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i NOTE TO THE READER

FRAGILE

THE PAPER IN THIS VOLUME IS BRITTI E

PLEASE HANDLE WITH CARE

1

THE

CHINESE GORDON, MOHAMMED-AHMED {EL MAAHDI\

ARABI PASHA.

EVENTS BEFORE AND AFTER THE BOMBARD-
MENT OF ALEXANDRIA.

BY

COL. C. CHAILLfi LONG,

BX-OHIEr OF STAFF TO GOBDON IN AFSXCA, IGX-XnOTBD STATES AOTING OONSirLAB

AGBXIT m ALXXAM DBIA, AUTHOB OF ** If AKKD TBUTH8 OF

XAKXD PXOPLBS,^* BTO.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,

1, 8, Ain> 6 BOND 8TBEBT.
1984.

.-."i

Ck>PTBIOBT, 1884,

bt d. affleton and ooMPAirr.

%

Events of the past two years, the insurrection 1
of Arabi, the massacres, the bombardment and burn-
ing of Alexandria, the Maahdi, and Chinese Gordon,
have created thronghoat the world renewed and pe-
cnliar interest in the land of Egypt.

The anthor was, during many years, an officer in
the Egyptian army. In such capacity, and as chief
of stdf, he accompanied General Gordon when the
latter was first named by the Khedive of Egypt
the Governor-General of the Equatorial Proviueea
of Africa.

In a volomo entitled " Central Africa : Naked ]
Truths of Naked People," tlie anthor has related '
the incidents of the several expeditions accom-
plished, and which resulted in the annexation of
vast and populons province3 to Egypt. He navi-
gated an unknown part of the Nile, and demon-
strated in this, and the discovery of X-abe Ibrahim,
tinally, and in the most absolute manner, the vexed
problem of caput NUi quairere — where to find tl

r

It preface.

Nile Gonrces — a query wLJcli, from a Koman epodi i
to onr own day, has been a synonym for the impos- ]
Bible.

The Maahdi, during the anther's service in Ai- :
ricft, was living in obscurity in Khartoum, or in his |
hermitage on the White Kile. He was associated, ]
there is but little doubt, with his Dongola people, in
the slave and ivory hunting, the common occupation
of the DoDgolowee, Mobamraed-Achmed hat
proclaimed himeelf a prophet, and baa been sano- |
tificd by the faithful as Mahdime, the aublim

Arabi was a lieutenant-colonel in the Fourth
Kegiment when the author was serving in tlio gen-
eral staff of the Egyptian army. lie frequently met
the rebel ^chief, then Minister of "War, during the i
rebellion, after the massacre, and before the bom-
bardment^ and when the author was the acting I
United States consular agent at Alexandria.

He believes that Chinese Gordon, the Maahdi, I
and Arabi have been the automatons with which I
Great Britain has sought to eoncoal her purpose to I
anne.x Egypt and tlie Soudan, and found in thia I
latter country an African India.

The methods which have been employed to effect
this end were: 1. The Nobar-Wilson ministry —
Nubar being a party to English intrignes — which
provoked the military insurrection of Arabi. 2.
Nubar, who chose Gordon for the Soudan. 3. Gor-
don, who, as he avoTved, " laid the egg which hatched
the Maahdi."

PREFACE.

Lord Dnfferin advised the evacuation of tlie
Soudan, under tlie plea that the country was a bur-
den to Egypt, and that it was beyoDd the sphere of
England's intervention. The eincerity of that dec-
laration may well be questioned when it is nnder-
Btood that under former administrationa it yielded
a considerable tribute to the mother-country, and
ceased to do so only after the disorganization which
had been effected by the unhappy adminiatration o
Gordon.

It is significant to note that at the same moment.]
that Lord Dufferin's proposition to evacuate the
Soudan was being re-echoed with singular unanimity
by the English press, England was seeking to secure _
a conccBiSion to build a railway from the Red Set
to Berber— Berber being within the territory pro
posed to he abandoned to the Maahdi t

Gordon Pasha was charged with the evacuation
of the Soudan. As a " Divine Figure from the
North " he entered Khartoum, and, Csesar-like, ex-
claimed, " Yeni, vidi, viet." His empire was to bo
one of peace ; be made it one of war. He declared
himself the Vali of the Soudan, and formally pro-
claimed the final separation of that country from
Egypt. He offered to make the Maahdi the Emir
of Kordofan, and distributed presents and the £40,-
000 of Egyptian gold to the Soudanese. It looks,
despite hia announced disobedience of orders, aa if
he were the ofBant-courier of the prospective i
can empire.

vi PREFACE.

Gordon in Khartoum is not unlike the wooden
horse of Ulysses within the walls of Troy. The
Maahdi, from the heights of the citadel at Obeid,
may exclaim, as did the patriot Trojan of old:
" Trojans, put no faith in this horse ; whatever it
be, I dread the Greeks, even when they bring gifts."

"timeo danaos et dona feeentes."

THE THEEE PROPHETS.

EGYPT.

Eqtft is the land of mirages.

Her deceptione and illoBionB are nmltiple and*
infinite, and may be fonnd to esiat in her genus
homo as they are displayed in her natural phe-

Bhe haa been, and promisea ever to be, the land
of romance and necromance, of the tniraculons and
the improbable. Led by the invieible hand of Fate,
that Sismet which is in all and over aU in the
Orient, it is decreed that she shall fi'om time to
time turn back and re-enact a page of that history
which there, more than elsewhere, is ever prone
repeat itself.

It was at the close of the foxirteonth dynasty,
about the time that Abraham descended into £s

to-

TOE THREE PROPHETS.

221i years b. c, that Egypt was invaded by hordes I
of nomad Arabs, who with fire and Eword overran \
the country, destroying her temples and monnments, j
and nearly effacing that Egyptian civilization which I
has been the wonder of the world,

The Hj'keoa, or pastoral kings, ruled Egypt j
with an iron hand for more than five hundred I
years, but in torn were either expelled or ab- J
Borbed by that mighty Theban power whose civ-^
ilization they were unable to withstand. From
whence came these barbarian conquerors ? History
does not tell ns. Did they not come from Upper
Nubia, from Dongola and Darfour 3 Or are they
the relics of an invasion of a later day, of the Beni
Omar, or the Beni Abbas, who crossed from the
Eed Sea and founded the kingdom of Scnnaar dur-
ing the first and second century of the HegiraJ
These central African peoples, the Ugundas, the^
Niam-Niams, and the Bagarrabs, are a curious evi-l
dence of the invader, for a, trace of whom we may |
peruse in vain tlio pages of history. Certain it I
is, that in these regions, in strange contrast with (
the rude savage, with whom they are now a part, |
there ia a brave and warlike race of men, clad]
with the armament, visor and coat-of-mail, whid^j
remaina as a vestige of eomc army which hadi

EGYPT.

crossed ita valiant lance with a foe more worthy o|l
its arms than the native of the Soudan.

More than four thousand years ago, perhaps,
these men of Dongola and Darfour, then the mas-
ters of an nnknown African empire, stirred with ■
the eaiite passions, and seeking to avenge eomeJ
wrong, poared into Egypt their barbaric legions.

Mohammed-Achmed, the Maalidi, is from Don-
gola, and, like the Hyksos of old, he comes to plant
his banner in lower Egypt, and again to overturn ■
her temples and monuments, and repeat in desolai
tion and death the bloody record of the past,

Mohammed-Achmed and Gordon Fasha,
Khartoum, are rival claimants for the supremacy
there ; they are also rivals in another sense, for both-„
claim to be the " Messengers of God."

The Maahdi claims, as the word implie
bo the " Guide or Messenger of God," and callfl
himself Moharamed-Achmed el Maahdi Monutazer,
that is to say, the prophet and guide awaited by the
world, and his followers have already adopted 1
cry of " Mohammed-Achraed rasaoul Allah nibi i
lah." His mission is to invade Egypt, to convert
the Massulmans to the true faith from which they
have strayed, and after a massacre of the Christians _
in Egypt to go to Mecca, where he will receive t

6 THE TnEEE PROPEETS.

Ehalifat and be ordEuned the Grand Cheikl»-el-Ii
lam. He has treated, so far, the overtnres of Q(
don with disdain. In replj he baa eaid : " I seni
back your presenta. I mil not accept your ol
to be the Emir of Kordofan. Ton eay yon have
corae to make peace because you are with God.
We are with God. If yon are with God, yon are
with ua ; on the contrary, if yon are against us, yoi
are against God- Be converted, then, and becoi
a Mussulman ; if not, we will inflict upon yon the
same punishment we have accorded to Hicks
Pasha."

Gordon Pasha has said ; " I go to Khartonm
m&ke peace. We can come to an agreement,
however, yon wish for war, come on. I am ready-
On the eve of his departure for Khartoum he
said: "I go up alone, with an infinite Almighty
God to direct and guide me, and am gla<i to bo
trust Hira as to fear nothing, and, indeed, to feel
eure of success. I do not care what man may say ;
I do what I think is pleasing to my God, He
the Governor-General."

The aitnation is truly dramatic I It would be
the climax of all that is grotesque were it not that
its sequence may prove to bo not only suprem'
tragical to Gordon, but cakmitons to Egypt.

1

Gordon says : " I am convinced that it is an
entire mietake to regard the AEaahdi as in any sense
a religions leader — he perBonifies popular discon-
tent. All the Soudanese are potential Haahdis,
jnst as all the Egyptians are potential Arabia. Tha j
movement is not religious, but an outbreak of da*
spair."

He claims that the outbreak of the Kaahdi i
the result of Turkish rule.

The writer was chief of sta£E to Gordon Pasha '
when that distinguished oihccr was named by the
Khedive of Egypt, in 18Ti, the Governor-General
of the Equatoiia! Provinces. The first act of Gor-
don on arriving at Khartoum was to issne a procla-
mation announcing the monopoly of the ivory trade
for the Government at Cairo. It was an undoubted
hardship to the merchant-princes who had their
zerihas, or stations, far into the wilds of Africa, in
■which much capital was invested. Confiecation of
their stock, upon various pretexts, came later to
consummate Iheir ruin ; and these men, in whom
Mohammed-Achmed, the Maahdi, was either directly^
or indirectly interested — for they were his people-
pleaded ID vain at the feet of Gordon the reatita-
tion of their property. This act of spoliation was
the bud and germ of the hatred of the Dongol

THE THREE PROPHETS.

toward tlie Egyptian Government. Thia,

tBther than the " Baabi-Eazouk," was " the egg of
lie insurreotion " which Gordon has avowed htf

aid in the Soudan during his admiaistratiou i
" those provinces.

It is the purjiose of these chapters to show to th(
public sit lux that there is a peculiar significancfl
the conduct of Gordon Pasha at EJiartoumJ
Hie writer believes that the Governor-General i
""1874 oi^nized the disorganization of those pros*
inces, and that all that has followed was but t
logical consequence of his administration, GordoOj
I his hook entitled "Colonel Gordon in Oentr
lirica," admits that when he took possession ofl
"them they yielded a revenne of £579,000,
1879, in a letter addressed to Sir Rivers Wilson,
then Minister of Finances in Egypt, he acknowl-
o an annual deficit of £109,000 and an annu-
l debt of £300,000. In Lis book he says: "The
"Khedive gave me a firman as Governor-General o£_
the Provinces of the Equator, and left me to wori
out the rest. I found that I must get hold of thi
inances of the new provinces and of the troops."
Gordon did get bold of these financi

five years of administration left the proT^
inces a charge upon tbo treasury at Cairo, and i

eiv.

I tlic

I fin;

EGYPT.

a state of insurrection ont of wliich haa come tha^
Maahdi.

It may be asked if this disorganization Las nol
tccn precisely the aim of Iler Britannic Majestj'w
Government! The elimination — separation — of tliej
Soudan from Egypt accomplished, a protectorat««
could be established with little or no embarr
raent with the powers ; in fact, England would trcalJ
directly with the Maahdi. "Was it not for this thaH
Lord Dufferin many months ago suggested that
Egypt should abandon the Soudan, and for tliis that
Gordon, with £40,000 taken from the Egyptian
treasury, plus £tiO,000 more to bo sent him, has-
tened across the Korosko Desert to pnrchaae the
adliesion of the Maahdi, as the Emir of Kordofaii,J
to the Gordonian Empire ?

Gordon Pasha, as king of the negroes, there i
every reason to believe, would be a weicouia vasa«
to England. Gordon dreams of this empire,
on more than one occasion has suggested to the
writer that we take and divide the provinces for
ourselves, claiming that they ought not to belong
either to the Arab or the "Unspeakable Turk."

Keither Goi-don's proclamation re-estabb'sliinjl
the slave trade in Khartoum, nor his bonfire (
finance and tax registers, nor his nomination of t

w

10 THE TEREE PROPHETS.

Mitahdi as tho Emir of Kordofan, are in keeping 1

with the almost god-liko riile of tlse abolitioaist, the I
niigsionaiy, or the Boldior, in which General Gordon |
has been heretofore known.

Haying laid aside these in the dramatic play at
KbEirtoani, the writer can onljr conclnde, in com-
mon with the reader, that he has doffed the mantle
of hnmanity in the furtherance of British egotism.
CoHsin was right, perhaps, when he exclaimed in a |
sally of scepticism and irony; "Aprh tout pardon- j
nons au Jesuitisme, il est dans la nature humaine^^

Be this as it may, we submit that Gordon at ]
Khartonm has succeeded far better than Aloibiadea j
of old in astonishing the world, for the latter, to do 9
this, contented himself by catting oS the tail of his 1

MOHAMMED- ACnMED EL MAAItCL

MoHAMMED-AoHMED is neither a prophet nor the
son of a prophet. Tho same injustice which cre-
ated Arabi in the barracks at Kasr-el-Nil, made also ^^^
Mohammed-Achmed at Khartoum. But it ie well ^^H

b. i

MOHAMMED-AOHMED EL MAAHDI.

to remember that there is but one step from tl
patriot to the prophet in the East. The word pi
trie IB an unknown quantity, and in order to fli
the Oriental heart, an appeal is sure to be made
religious fanaticism as the motor of all movement.
Arabi, as we will eliow, became a prophet by order
of the TJiiiversity of El-Azhar, and Mohammed-Aoh-
med, it is said, received his mission from the oonfrS-
ries of Sid Abd-el-Kader Djilani, Sid-es-Senoussi,
and the Gama-El-Azhar. These institutions, chief
among which ia El-Azhar, in Cairo, are the veritable
Mecca of the true believer. Hatred of the Frank,
which is a dietingnishing characteristic of the Mus-
Belman, ia engendered in these veritable foyefs of
fanaticism. It is there that Panislamiem is taught
and spread to those hundred milHons of the faithful
who long for that universal empire promised them
by the Koran. These confrSries are kept in close
communication by trusty agents who go from point
to point as their messengers. Sidi Mohammed Ben
All es Senonssi is said to have been the principal
founder. He was bom in Algeria in the neighbor-
hood of Montagavem, By profession a jurisconsult,
he was initiated at an early age into the mystic phi-
losophy of the ChadJidiya. Hostile to France as
he had been to Turkey, he left Algeria and went

I

12

THE THREE PKOPEETS.

Cairo, where he taught the law and theology; tbenco
to Mecca, where he became the disciple of Ahmed
Een-EdriB, the great doctor of Chadheliam, and at
hi8 death was designated as liia Bueceasor.

The doctrine to which Sidi Mohammed became
tho apostle consisted in rendering homage to God
alono; to honor tho saints during this life, bnt with-
out continuing to venerate them after their death,
not excepting Mohammed, the most perfect of all
men ; to renounce the world, and not to permit tho
luxury of ornament, except to women; that men
should look only to their we:ipona of war, and to
obey those chiefs only who rigidly followed tho
precepts of their religion ; to havo no relation with
a Christian or a Jew, and to consider all as one-
mies who are not tributai-y to the Taithful, Sidi
Mohammed founded this confrerie in 1S37.

The law of " djchad " or holy war opens to the
helieaer a seductive perspective: to the fervent
Boul, the Bcnsnal joys of a future life ; to the
" Moujahed " who fights for his faith, the delightB
of " Djeuna," paradise ; to the deserter, the pains of
the ■tiifei'no.

Such are the men who at Melbaa, at Teb,
Tokhar, Sinkat, and Trinkitat, have won for Moham-
med-Achmcd tho dangerous prestige of a prophet.

MOHAMMED-ACHilED EL MAAUDI. 13

It ia written, and the Panialamifit pi-esa have pub-
liBhed it of late :

" The prophet has said that war shall last until J
the day of judgment. Between MuEsulmana and ■
English Clmstiana there may be an armistice —
peace never I "

"The Eritiali lion," said a "liadjhadj,"a pilgrim
at Mecca, the other day, "has a fierce appetite.
Alwaysinqocstof prey, be is never satisfied. "Whom ]
will he devour to-morrow ! His claws of steel sink |
deep into the flesh, but they do not kill. His vic-
tims are condemned to live. He delights to hack 1
them at his ease, bleed them drop by drop, drink 1
them sip by sip, suck from them little by httle the ^
brains and marrow. But what a life! Death i
far preferable. To drag along thus a miserable
existence, we brothers of the country of the water
of the roses (India) are doomed. Thus are doomed ,
to perpetual consumption the believers of the if
of Cyprus. Thus destined to be eaten and drank 1
up poor El Maer " (Egypt).

Mohammed-Achmed ia said to have been bora
at Khanag, in Dongola, in the year 1S42. In stat-
ure he is rather tall, slender, and in color somewhat
like cafe au lait, with the usual parallel incisiona ■
npoa each cheek, characteristic mark of the Dongo-l

14

THE TffllEE PE0PIIET8.

lowee. Hia costume Ea simple in tbe extreme, and ]
consiBte of a gallabiah, or looee white gown, booiid .
at the waist \>y a green aash. On his head a small 1
white cap, on his feet wooden sandals, and around
Ilia neck a sebha or chaplet composed of ninety-nine ]
grains, the number corresponding to the principal I
attributes of God.

In the year 1868 he was at KJiartonm, where he i
received reb'gious eonsecration, and was admitted
into die confreriea ot Sid Abd-el-Kader, El Djilani,
and Sid-es-Senoussi, and, in accordance with tho
formiilas of initiation, swore to consecrate his body
and BonI to the interests of the order. The island ,
of Abba is situated on the Bahr el-Abiad (White
Nile), in 13° north latitude. It waa there that Mo-
hammed-Aclimed chose hia place of retreat. T)ie
Bagarrah Arabs, a brave and warlike race, rcsem-
liling the Bedouins of Lower Egypt, occupy both ■
banks of the river near by. They soon learned to ,
look upon the hermit of Abba with great venerar
tion. The Sid-es-Senouasi confided to tliem tho
misBion of conferring with Mohammed-Aclimed.

They found him upon his knees at prayer. 1
Touching his shoulder with the tip of his finger, as J
if there were impiety in the act, the Bagarrah 1
deputy disclosed the object of his visit. " The Sid-

MOIIAilMED-ACIIMED EL MAADDI. 15

[

es-SeDonssi," said lie, " bidB me e&j to yoa that you
are called to take charge of an army." Mohammed
remained for several moments eilcnt, and then re-
plied tliat he was completely detached from earthly
matters, and that he had made a vow to live apart
from the strife of the world, nnlesa indeed God
fihonld order otherwise. " But it is God who orders
it," replied in triamph the orator. " Thou art he
whom God has chosen from among all otheis. Sid-
es-Senousai knows it well. He has had the revela-
tion ; he has declared thee Mad/nme tho Sublime.
Tliou canst not, then, by an excess of humility, i
stain from tho designs of Allah upon thee." Tlia J
other deputies thereupon clapped their hands, and m
Mohammed arising took the proffered sword, and
raising it aloft, cried ;

"El-Hamdou, illah!" (Praise be to Godl)
Turning to tho Bagarrah, he said :

"O ye Moudimme (resigned to the will of I
God). Here I am the nazsir el Din (the aid of
thy religion). May God keep me upon the necks
of the Infidel, and may his benediction rest upon
us, Maehallah ! "

Early in July, 18S1, the Maahdi gave the first!
eigns of his military movements. Kaouf Pasha was I
then Governor of Xhartoum. He knew that the I

16

THE THREE PROPHETS.

L

Sid-ee-Senoassi had given ont to the Soudan people J
that the thirteenth century of the Ilegira, bj the 1
grace of God, was ahout to close, and the four-
teenth century would, according to prophecy, open ]
to the world of believers an era of prosperity, of |
grandeur, and glory. The Prophet of the South,
the Sublime Defender of the Faith, was now mak- j
ing an energetic appeal to arms.

Eaouf ordered Mohammed-Achmcd to come to '
Khartoum. The Propliet treated the message with
silent contempt. A battalion of black soldiers,
Chillouks, was sent to enforce his authority. Tho
BagaiTah of the Prophet met them and cut them to |
pieces. A second and a third column shared the ^
same fate.

Abd-el-Eader Pasha succeeded the feeble and
timid Kaouf. Ynsef Bey was ordered to march
against the Maahdi. They, too, were annihilated.
The lance of the Prophet was now invincible. In
September, 1883, El Obeid, the capital of Kor- J
dofan, had fallen, and he had now become a menace |
and danger for Egypt itself.

The 9th of September, General Hicks Pasha, an
oflScer of the Anglo-Egyptian army, with a force
estimated at ten thousand men, and a staff of forty j
European officers, left El Dnem, on the Nile, to I

r

MOnAMMED-AOHMED EL MAAHDI.

march againat El Obeid. The tracklesa road
tliroTigh one of the most desolate, arid regionB
the globe. Hicks had to fight a foe more relentless
than the soldiers of the Prophet — the Bcareity of
water, and the heavens which covered them as with
a canopy of fire. The ever-present mirage ren-
dered more intense the consnming thirst of his sol-
diers, who at length, when driven to despair, en-
deavored to find in the stomachs of their dying ani-
mals wherewith to allay their sufferings. Of all
that devoted band no one lives to tell the story.*

Osman Digma, on the sliorea of the Red Sea,
has added prestige to the arms of the Prophet in
the battles at Tokar, El-Teb, Trinkitat, and Sinkat.
The waters of the Nile are at the flood at Khar-
toum, and we shall soon sec if the Maahdi intends
to play the rdle of the " Sublime " assigned him by
the Sid-es-SenoQSsi.

Zebehr Pasha merits notice in connection witl
the "Maahdi"; he may be destined to play
important rdle io the solution of this question of
the Soudan. It may be as the vekil of Gordon, or

* It ia reported Ihnt Baron Seckendorif, ft Gorman olEoor, is
kept in priaoQ io Obeid, and a Qorman, a earvaat of one of tha
officers, Bud to have deserted Ejobs F&eha, ia dow orgaoiziiig ths
tftaj vltb which tbe Moabdi praposea la umke hia tieaceat ii

i^^H

18

THE THREE PROPHETS.

of Mohammed- Achmed ; it may be, if ho should
elude the sarveillance at Cairo and escape, as a
rival Maahdi to both Gordon and Hohammed.

Lord Ohorchill recently presented a reaolatioD
in the House of Commons to the effect "that he
would inquire as to the position of General Gor-
don at Khartoum ; the Prime Minister said he had
stated that General Gordon's mission was essential-
ly pacific, but he was now carrying on military
operations. Were the Government now going to
relieve General Gordon? Gordon's Jiret act was
to demand for the pacification of that part of the
Soudan that 'that most abandoned scfyimdrel Ze-
behr should be sent to him.' He admitted tha
devotion with which General Gordon had come
to the rescue of a dying government, but these
two acts of hia deserved t?ie sevareat censure of
ParUam/ent."

Zebehr, like Mohammed, is from Dongola, and i
ia, therefore, in the Sondaniah idiom, a D<mgi^
wee. Tears ago he left Khartoum as one of the
irregular soldiora — the hotariak — engaged in ivory
and slave hunting for tlio account of the house of
SataK, Agad Abon Saond, and others.

In the regions of the BahrK;I-Ghazell, in the
Dar Fertit, south and east of Darfour, he succeeded

1

4

r

MOHAMMED-AOHMED EL MAAIIDI. 19

in carving ont among the negroes a state made up
of vast zerihas or slave depots, over wMcIi ho
placed hia eub-govemors or mkUa.

In 1867 he had become bo strong that he defied
the tax-gatherer and refused to pay the levy made
npon liim by the Govemiaent at Khartoum, An
expedition was 6ent against him nnder the com-
mand of Balalaoni- Mohammed; but Zebehr met
BaJalaoui with an overwhelming force, and de-
stroyed hia little army.

The Government, finding that they were power-
lesa to control Zebehr, offered him the rank of bey
in its service. He accepted, and in conjunction
with Ismail Pasha Ayoube, then Governor of
Khartomn, marched against Brahim, the Sultan
of Darfour, defeated him, and took possession of
Fafihr, ite capitaL In recognition of this impor-
tant conquest, the Government created Zebehr a
pasha. But the jealouaj' of Ayoube was now '
thoroughly aroused, and he commenced a system
of intrigues and complaints against Zebehr, which
finally decided him to go down to Cairo and appeal '
for justice to the Khedive in person. Zebehr was
made a prisoner for hie pains, and has lived in
Cairo ever since upon the provision of £100 .
month accorded him by the Government.

THE THKEE PROPUKTS.

It has been Been that Gordon Iiaa inBisted that
Zebehr should be sent np to succeed him as the
Governor-General. The projTOeition is certainlj ex-
traordinary, but Gordon is always dealing wilU tha
extraordinary. "When appointed Governor-General,
in 1874, he opened the prison-doors of Abon Saoud,
where bo had been placed by Sir Samuel Baker,
who charged Iiiiu with conspiracy, and the real
eanse of the disaster to him and hia retreat from
Masindi. Abon, named by Gordon his vekU dar-
ing my absence at the Groat Lakes, was in accord
with Suleiman, whom the wily Abou had caused
to be named as ambassador to Keba-Rega, the King
flf Uuyoro, and who at M'rooli Attacked tue, five
hundi-ed strong, in August, 18T4, while descending
the Nile, returning from TJgunda.

Dr. Schweinfnrth, in December of last year;
thus writes of Zebehr :

More doubtful even than the result of Baker
Pasha's expedition at Tokhar is another scheme
which throws its dark shadow over us all, and over our
efforts for the suppression of the slave trade — I mean
this appointment of Zebehr Pasha, and the enrollment
of negroes which he is making night and day. He
18 said to have some thousands of these already ; but
what a set I Former slaves, driven away by their
masters for had conduct, people without character.

hat 1

the I

the ^H

MOHAMMED-AOHMED EL MAAHDI.

tbieves from the streets, a mob of the very worst
kind, who are of leas value even than Egyptian
Boldiera, and with this mob he is going to fight 1
How dangerous for the country to allow a man like
Zebebr such unlimited power ! Do they think that
ho will forget that the Government has slain his three
sons ? Once in his own country, be will place him-
self on the side of the Maahdi, and pay his army with
slaves.

The expeditiona under Oessi, who from an
humble employ^ had been i-aiscd to the rank of
paeha, have been exteosively circulated in the
English press. They have served to give a color
of heroism and devotion to a crusade against
slavery and slave-dealers, tlie truthfulness of which
may well be questioned now in view of what has
occurred at Khartoum. It must be remembered
that the unfortunate Gessi was his own historian,
and many of the grand battles against the davera
will be found perhaps to have been mere razzias
against defenseless se/'ilas.

Zebahr, who has been interviewed lately in
Cairo, gives this version of himself :

I need not go over my record. It is well known
probably to you and the world in general. No man
now living in Egypt has rendered such services to bis ,
country as I did, and yon see the reward. It was |
Gordon's accusations which out my heart out, but

22 THE THREE PROPHETS.

DOW he has confessed that he was wrong. lie hJ
telegraphed for me to takff his place, and to i
Government that the confiscation of my property waa
nnjust, and that it should be restored to me. He re-
quested that some money should bo given to me at
once, and I have been paid five thousand poundi
That is a mcr« nothing, but the fault is not his.
you know what tbo Government owes me ? Alone il
the conquest of Darfour I spent some ten thousand
pounds out of my own pocket, certified and registered
in the archives. The property of mine which has
been confiscated must amount to three or four hua^
died thousand pounds.

About my son, this is what happened : Jealous in*
triguers at Cairo had poisoned the ear of the Khedive
Sgainst me, and I was summoned to the capital. Con-
soions of no wrong, I came at once, leaving my fam-
ily and my property in full confidence. Here I found
Gordon. I protested my innocence, and at Kasr-El-
Nil I offered to go with him and prove to him the
falseness of the accusations made against me. M%m
refused, but told me to write to my eon Suleiman M
letter, ordering him to submit to Gordon. I wrote ti
him, telling him that Gordon went up as the repre
eentative of the Khedive and of myself ; that he was
to treat him as a lord and as a father, and to serve
him as a slave if he wished, and to obey his slightest--
word. I gave Gordon a letter of this sort. I accom
panied him to the station, and my last words to hin
were to commend my young son of sixteen years I
his protection. When Gordon arrived, my s
him, and Gordon treated him with great kindness, a

MOH

3:d-aci

I EL UAAHDI.

gave him a rook, and made him Governor of Bahr-el'
Ghazal,

Shortly afterward, a servant of my house, one
Edreia, fled away and went to Gordon, and told him
that Suleiman was treacherous at heart and working
against him. Gordon at once believed this scoundrel,
and named him governor in the place of my son, with-
out asking further. Suleiman, when he beard thia,
sent to Gordon nine Ulemas to assure him of his re-
spect and loyalty. Directly they arrived Gordon shot
tbem alb Two more were sent, and they were also
immediately shot. I ean not uuderntand this treat- J
ment of ambassadors.

Suleiman then said be would go himself to Gordon J
and started with twelve hundred followers for Dara, J
wbcre ho believed Gordon was. At six houra' dia- 1
tance from Dara he heard Gordon was at Khartoum, |
He turned to go thither, and met Gessi with one hun-
dred and 6fty soldiers, Gcssi summoned him to snr- I
render. He proteeted against being treated e
enemy. Gessi replied that be was Gordon's represen-
tative, and Suleiman had better show the loyalty ho
professed by coming with hira. Suleiman said that
if Gessi would give bim his solemn word that the
charges against him should he properly sifted, he
should at once surrender and abide by the sentence.
Thia was the greater proof of his loyalty, aa he and J
bis men so far outnumbered Gessi that had he wished f
he could easily have taken Gessi prisoner. C
however, promised. Accordingly, Suleiman ordered 1
hie escort to lay down their arms, and then for six op 1
days Gessi and he were friends, eating at the J

THE TUREE PROPOETS.

mo tabl^ and living Id each other's company. On
1 tenth day. however, Gcsai called Suleiman and
B of his family who were with him to come to
lltlm. They came to him and found him seated nndn-
'a great tree. In 6vc minutes be had shot them all.
I do not believe Gordon ever gave hitn the order
to do such an act, for Gordon is a strangely merci-
ful man. lie can not s]>eak oar language, and so is
^often apt to got wrong impreasionB;

' Ink he would have shot my son without bearing biiq

Bowovor, that is a thing of the past. I have foi

pvon him, as we all hope to bo forgiven. Gesai die

B at Suez afterward, and God will judge between 1 ~

^•nd mc at the last day.

Jlr. Archibald Forbes, in tlio story of " CIudgI
>rdoii," has given a more heroic color to Ges
brilliant manoeuvring." But it ia not impi
that Gordon's startling demand that tlio " ecotrndr;
Zebehr" should be sent np to succeed him, may I
after all intended aa the amende honorable to t
fatlier for the shooting to death of the son.

However this may bo, Zobehr and myself are not
the very best of friends. Wben I was in the Niam-
Niam country, and south of the country occupied
by Zebehr, twenty days' march to the north, lio s
troop of hia Dongolmoee to make a rassia agaiiii
tribe among whom I had established a military
Conelading that they ■were too weak to i

CHINESE GORDON.

1|

and BooQ da-i^^^^f

tack, they made friendly overtures, and i
parted empty -handed, not, however, before attempt-
ing to asBassinate me. On the night o£ the 19th of
February, my guard caught a Dongolowee, -with
tnife in hand and upon his knees, in the act of
Bteahng into the hut oecnpied by me, at the same
moment that several shots were fired into the hut,
btit without wounding any one.* I charged Zebehr
subsequently M'hen in Cairo with having ordered
thia, but he diaclaiined all knowledge of the act.

r

Few men have lived to he go much written of*
as Charles George Gordon, 0. B. Pietist, misaion-
EoMier, he is at all times enveloped a
with a mantle with the leaves of his Bible. Ho i
a strange composition of a Cromwell, a Haveloek, a
Carlyle, and a Livingstone. Had he lived in the ,
time of the great reformer, ho would doubtless hava J
played some important roU. He is, however, more

• See " Naked Truths."

26 THE THREE PROPHETS.

than all Oordi/n. liimBelf, with a profound contemptfl
for bis fellow-men, but with a certain eympathy—
pity rather — for hie inferiors; a characteristic madl)!
very apparent in his administration of tlie Soudan,!
wliere he eoon got rid of all hie equals, and re-
placed them in many cases by subordinates — tneni-
ala to wliora he gave extrayagant pay, hut to whom,
when the occasion offered, he also administered a^
good kicking.

lie was bom at Woolwich, England, Jannary
2S, 1833, and is the fourth son of the late Liouten-|
ant-General Henry W. Gordon. lie comes of afl
race of soldiers, one of his immediate aneestora
being a descendant of the Dnke of Cumberland, I
and a distinguished actor in the Canadian war uQ>fl
der Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham.

Gordon is a general in the Royal Engineers of *
the English army, and a C. B, He is also a Ti-Tu,
and i-anks as a mandarin in the Chinese service,
where, as commander of the " Ever Victorious i
Army," he acquired the sobriquet of " Chinese I
Gordon" — a name which has made the circuit ofl
the world. He belongs to the order of the Star,]
and is entitled to wear the "Tdhw Jacket" and!
the ^'■Peacock's Feather."

Hia fifty years sit very lightly upon him

P"

I active

I almost

CUINESE GORDON. 271

active body and mind, mddy complexion, and
almost boyish manner, make him appear even ■■
yonnger than he is. His step is hght, and hia
movementa are quick and almost leopard-like.
When arouaed, he gives way to anger which
imcontrollable.

For the parpose of tliis book we shall only referfl
to him as the Governor-General of the Equatorial
Provinces of the Soudan — a position to which he
was appointed in 1874 by the Viceroy of Egypt, to
succeed Sir Samuel Baker.

It was the niglit of the 20th of February, 1874^1
while seated at table in Cairo with a joyous com
pany of Parisian fiicnda, that I received a :
which simply said :

Mr DKAE Chaill£i-Lono : Will you go with i
to Central Africa? Come to see me at once.
Very truly,

C. G. GOKDON.

Truly, Egypt is a, country of the improbable, '
and where the nnexiiectod always happens t I had i
entered the Egyptian army In the commencement
of 1870, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, to
combat for the independence of Ismail Pacha, the
Khedive of Egypt, who for a moment only hadJ

28 TILE THREE PKOPilETS.

dreamed of throwing off the yoke of Tnrkey.
With the exception of a few months of very pleas-
ant eervice under General Loring, who comiuaDdcd
a corps d^armee at Alexandria, my aervico waa
purely nominal. I obeyed wilh precipitation the
nnexpeeted invitation. It waa the work (A Kiamett ]

Who was Gordon J I Ijad heard of him only ]
that day. I knew nothing of the man whom Dca- 1
tiny had decreed should be my chief in the wilds o£ I
unknown Africa.

Gordon came forward to meet rae with a qnic^ |
glide-like step, and, seizing my hand, excl^med : J
" How are you, old fellow "i Come take a glass of 1
h. and s. — brandy and soda, A peg will help ns talk 1
about Central Africa. Tho Ivhedive spoke to me
about you to-day. You Bpeak Ai'abic and French.
I make you chief of staff ; you ehaU command the
entire Soudmueh army. I don't want the bother
of soldiers, this must be your work. You shall
have the rank of pasha. Tho Khedive has given
me a firman as Governor-General of the Equatorial
Provinces of the Equator for three years. Will
you go?"

Twenty-four hours afterward, on the 21st of Feb-
ruary, 1874, ft numerous assemblage of friends bade
me an affectionate adieu as a special train took mo

CHINESE GORDON.

away to that Central Africa wbicli to tte Egyptian*
feUak is a land of exile and death. It had been q
6ort of IfouveUe-CaUdonie ior the Government (
Egypt. To me, far differently from the eombei
presages of frienda, I looked forward to my eervica
tliere with great pleasare, and even then had formed
the project of pushing my way to the sources of the
Nile. Lieutenant Hassan "Wassif, a fine younm
Egyptian officer, accompanied us as aide-de-camp t
Gordon. He cried bitterly the whole night in his
room at tbe hotel at Suez, at the thought of going
to the dreaded Soudan, and refused to be com-
forted.

Arrived at Suakin on tbe 35th of Karclj,
started on the 28th across the desert, at a madden- '
ing pace, on camel-back, with an escort of fifteen
soldiers, furnished us by Eliadine Pasha, the Gov-
ernor of Soakin, accomplishing the traverses within
the incredible space of eight days, arriving at Ber-
ber the 8th of March, an achievomeut of which ^
Gordon was very proud. Besides this, he wanted t
put our mettle to the test, and I confess that but for
a dotermmation to see him out I would willingly
have cried jjeocowt, as did poor Hassan and our used-
up soldiers, whom Gordon termed "poor thinga" in_
a deprecating way.

THE TUEEE PROPnETB.

Berber risce from tlie deeert Band like a phantom I
cit}'. Its majestic palms and tall acacias nod tlieir I
broad-leaved tops from cool, ehady gardens, us if in. I
ealutatioii to the wearied and 6un scorched traveler {
as he emerges from the Great Desert.

IIiiBgein Kalifa, now Hussein Halifa Pasba, tha I
Governor of Berber, was then the Clioikh of the I
Great Desert (Cheikh el Atmour). IZis power and j
that of his family among the desert tribes on tha J
road to Korosko and to Snakin makes him a great
personage in the esteem of the Government at
Cairo. It is dne to him that these warlike bands
Lave nntil now been kept in Bubjection ; and Gor- J
don's ride in January of this year, across from Ko- I
rosko to Berber, loses some of its dramatic character
when it is known that Husflein Halifa became spon-
sor for his safety, and committed Gordon's safe
passage to his own son, who commauilcd the est
of Orbanes Bedouins to Berber.

Halifa is not unlike the graceful palm-trees in j
his garden, lie is very tall and fine-looking, about ]
sixty years of age, and belongs to that prond Nu-
bian race whose skin, though black, has no conneo- I
tion with the negro. His features are finely chiseled, I
and his extremities are email and absolutely aristo |
eratic. Ilaeaein Halifa, in common with his rac^ I

t hold

I negi

r ]

OniNESE GORDON.

311

holds ill contempt both the Arab fellah and the I
negro.

He advanced to meet us on our arrival with in- 1
imitablo grace and dignity, and, ecatcd in his garden, I
partaking of liia proffered hoapitalitj, I looked with
amazement upon this gentleman of the desert, from
whom the dude of these degenerate days might well
learn a lesson in trac politeness.

The garrison at Berber is reported as having.!
fallen into the hands of the Maahdi — that which!
has remained — for it is said that 3,500 have beeal
mercilessly massacred, and the fate of the herow!
Ilalifa is not yet known. On the 13th of March we
ai-rived at Khartoum. Gordon, in a letter to hia
sister, writes : " We left Berber on March 9th, and
arrived here the 13th, at daybreak. The Governor-
General, Ismail Pasha Ayoube, met your brother in
full uniform, and he landed amid a salute of artil-
lery and a battalion of troops with a band. It was
a fine eight (the day before your brother had his _
trousers off, and waa pulling the boat in the Nile, b
spite of crocodilefl, who never tench you when ri
ing). lie can not move now without guards turn-
ing out. I have got a good house here, and am
very happy and comfortable.

"I had a review the day after my arrival, andi

THE THREE PROPHETS.

visited the hospital aod tho schools. The^ are well
cared for, and the little blacks were glad to see ine.
(I wish that fiie« woald not dine in the comers of '
their eyes I)

"Khartoum is a fine place as far as poaitioii I
goes. The houses are made of mud and flat-roofed.
I leave on the 20th for Goudokoro, and hope to be j
there the 18th. Tho caravan comes after ine, and
will be there in two months. [This caravan was in I
charge of Major Campbell, a gallant American i
officer who died snbsequentlj at IGiartoum, M. An- \

I son, De Witt, and Linant, who died at Gondokoro.
Btasi was in charge of Colonel Gordon's baggage.]
■ " I am quite well, and have quiet times in spite
■'all the work. Tell , as he said, ' Self is the
Bat officer to do anything for you,'
P "I think the Khedive likca me, but no one else
does ; and I do not like them — I mean the ewells, i
whose corns I tread on in all manner of ways. I |

saw at Suez. lie agrees with me in one

opinion of the rottenness of Egypt : it is all for the
iiesb, and in no place is human nature to he studied
to such advantage, Duke of Tftie wants steamer ,
— say £600. Duke of That wants house, etc. All |
the time the poor peojjle are ground down to get
money for all this. AVlio art thou to be afraid of a

AT KHARTOOM.

If He wills, I will eliake all this in Bome
way not clear to me now. Do not tlunk I am an
egotist. I am like MoBes who despised the riches of J
Egypt. We have a King mightier than these, and I
more enduring riches and power in Ilira than we
can have In this world. I will not bow to Haman."
Gordon commenced to shake the Soudan Gov-
ernment, as I Lave said, by the proclamation of
monopoly of ivory, and by an unwise and unjust
confiscation of pro^ierty of those who are to^lay ii
arms. It was " the egg which he laid of the insuJ
rection in the Soudan."

AT KnAKTODM.

Baok to a period prehistoric there had been t
sort of ethnic, iri'esistible movement from Egypt
toward the South. Ancient Egypt doubtl^a drew
from Central Africa the slaves that bnilt her im-
perishable temples and monuments, Mehemet A!i
in his dream of conquest and empire turned natur--
ally toward the head-waters of tlie Nile. Thi

31

TDE THEEE PROPHETS.

Nile JB Egypt itself; without it Egypt is a bairen
waste of desert.

It was in 1S21, at a moment when Mehemet AU ]
had fonnded the dynasty of the KhedivoB OTer the '
slaughtered Mameluke, that Le sent his son Ismail,
and subsequently the Defterdar, to subdue the Sou-
dan. How completely this was done redounds to
the honor of this grand old statesman. lie found-
ed Khartoum, now a city of 30,000 inhabitants, situ- .
ated on tlie left hauls of the Balir-el-Azralc (Blue
Nile), about two miles from the point Kas-Khar-
toum which marts tlie junction of the Blue Nile
with the Bahr-cl-Abiad (Wluto Nile). As thei
natural entrepdt of the commerce of Sennaar, Kor-
dofan, Darfour, Fazogli, and Taka, Xhartoum has ]
realized in commercial importance the liopos of '
the distinguished pasha.

The Central African provinces annexed these '
late years, although undeveloped, have materially
added to its commerce. The exportations and im-
portations of the Soudan are valued roughly at one
hundred millions of francs ; and as the fabrics and
general merchandise are mostly English, it is to be '
presumed that England, in oi'doring an abandon-
ment of these provinces, has done so with the view

of

imposing

and permanent protectorate.

AT KUAETOUir.

wholly detached fi-om the Egyptian question,
lot ua return to Gordon in Khartoum. On ■
14tli of March he commanicated to me as chief c
6ta£E the following note, addressed to the " gentle
men composing my stafE, militaiy and civil "

Gentlemsit ; As it is well tbat I should exprea

to you my views before we enter into closer relations, '
I have thought fit to address you these lines on
several subjects :

I. I consider that the provisional form which the
expedition has at present will cease after two years'
date, and after the lapse of that time it will rest
with me to retain or dispense with the services of a
or all of the members of the present expedition, as
may seem most conducive to the public service ; thai
is the footing on which I am with respect to 1
Khedive myself.

II. We are all volunteers, and t-ach one of us is f
"to come and go from the service as he may think fi

III. I want from each one of you your best effort
I want quiclt execution of orders. I want you n
content yourselves with giving the order, but to e
that it is executed, and for you to inform me of its exes
cation. To forget anything comes to the same tbin«
as to refuge to execute it — indeed, is somewhat w
for in the latter case I can give my orders to another,
wboroas in the former case I am deluded into a false
security and do not take other steps. From ray ex-
perience, the greatest defects that a man can possesB
in expeditions like our own are forffetfulness, the not

36 TUE THREE PROPHEm

teeing to the execution of an order, being contented ]
at having given it ; procrastination and late rising.
However talented a man may be, I prefer a stupid
man to him if he has the above drawbacka.

rv. My duty toward you is to see that, aa far a
OUT means go, you are well cared for ; that yon are \
properly supported in your wish ; that you hava com-
plete control over it, STibject to my Buperviaion. With
respect to the aubordinatoa yon may employ, you
will have full power to engage or to discharge, pro-
vided that the funds disposable are not exceeded.
You shall have all the credit your exertions may merit,
and I shall do my utmost to promote your interests.

V. I propose giving each of you so much for serv-
ants, whom you will select yourselves, my duty ending
after I have paid their salaries.

VI. I propose to give you an assortment of tba I
stores which have come from England. This assort- j
ment will be for a stated term ; if used up before that
lime, I am not responsible if you suffer.

VII. I will mention that for your comfort it is
necessary you have your traveling kit as complete as
possible. You ought to pay the greatest attention to
this. Do not forget your tooth-brnsh, your soap,
towels, a hammer, nails, string, etc. Do not sleep on
the ground, however hot ; sleep with something across '
your loins ; remember your mosquito curtains ; if ,
fatigued, take a little quinine, whether you have
fever or not ; take coffee or sometbiug before you go
out in the morning ; and mind, if you go out, take
your water-bottle and food, and expect no one else
to help you if you have not these things.

AT KHAETOUM.

V ill. IE possible, get on well with tlie Egyptiaa
troops and with the natiTeB. Be loyal toward the
Khedive, and consider we can not weigh the actions
of men in these parts in the same scale as we weigh
the actions of our people.

Feeling Bore that we shall agree with one another^.|
I have the honor to be, gentlemen,

Tours very sincerely,

C, G, Gordon.
CommuiuciLted b; tbe chief ot etaSt, Ca.iiu.t-hasi3.

The Governor at Kliartoum gave us a gnmtf
dinner. Many of the celebrities of the city were ]
invited : Mgr. Camboni, of the Austrian CathoUo '
miseioD ; M. Ilanzell, the Austuan consul ; Gcigler,
an employ^ of the telegraph, whom Gordon snb-
seqnently, in a capricious mood, made a pasha.
Hanzell delivered an eloquent oration in Arabic.
Ho had lived for twenty-five years in Khartoum,
had maiTied a negress, and was the father of a
numerous family of little blacks. Ho was addicted
to a very liberal absorption of Tain, and on this oc-
casion became quite drunk. After the feast the
Dinka and ChiUouk soldiers, to the number of five
hundred or more, gave in the open courtyard of
the palace a kamalalah (dance) of the White Nile.
Tiiia was followed

ibyt;

ing appearance {

dozen young ladies of the Abyssinian type, entirely

38 THE THREE PE0PIIET3.

nude, wlio moved around beating time with their I
feet, and producing with tlieir compressed lipa i
BOrt of clacking sound. This was the t/iedtro ballet 1
of Khartoum, Ilanzell, owing to his deep pota* I
tiona, had now lost all sense of the konos cuth
dignilale which should hedge the consnl, threw
himself in the midst of these maidens, and joined
in the mimic movement. The consul was ao- ■
claimed vociferonsly by Ismail. But it waa too |
much for Gordon, who, no longer able to restrain
his anger, leaped from the divan and abruptlj left
the scene, to the consternation of Ayoube and the
dismay of Hanzell. .

This was the commencement of those " skir-
mishes" of which he speaks as having had with ]
Ayoube, and which ultimately ended in Ayonbe'a |
recall to Cairo.

T.

OONDOKOBO,

TwENTT-aix days afterward, on the ITth day of I
April, we arrived by steamer at G-ondokoro, the j
future capital of the Equatorial Government.

H Gondok

W eituated ab(

r It was the

GONDOEORO.

Gondokoro, upon the right bank of the Kile, i
eituated abont ten feet above the level of tfie riTea
It was then bat a collection of one thouBand c
more straw hnts of cone diape, surrounded by I
high ijalisade of like material.

The brick canisaa (church), created by the pioua
hands of the Austrian priests, had long since disap-
peared, and the red bricks, ground into dust and
mLsed with grease, had served to ornament the
naked bodies of the Baris.

Gordon had been dnring the journey in the moB
depressed spirits. He said to me, as a species t
stork wonlJ rise from tlio bushes along the river
with a peouliar Bcreain, frightened by the noise (
our steamer: "Hear that, Long; they are laughing
at US. What fools they think us to be in going afl
to live in this horrid country I "

At Gondokoro he said : " Well, I feel very low,.1
Long. How do you feel i 1 think I shall go down 4
to Khartoum. In fact, I don't see that anything
be done with these people. Lot us go back. Evw
those geoae mock ua for coming here."

On tho 20th of April Goi-don returned
Kliartonra, where he would meet his impedimentOi
employ^, and the famous Abou Baoud, wliflj
notwithstanding Sir Samuel's sad expei

40 TnE THREE PROPHETS.

insisted, "was btult and made to govern," liut |
■who, aa tlie sequel proved, was a " scoandrel and a
traitor."

I had now been associated with Colonel Gordon
einee the 2l8t of Febrnary. I had been drawn to '
him bj the pcfsoual magnetism which he possesBOS
to a great degree. The contradictions in his diepo-
Bition, however, render him an enigma even to his |
intimate friends.

Dr. Schweinfurth sajs of him :

"At times he ia condescending, affable, and cor-
dial ; again, he storms at everybody, ia rough, crusty,
and unapproachable. Hia plans are changed even dur-
ing their execution, and his actions only proceed in a
straight line when carried along by his enthusiasm."

The " Pall Mall Gazette " says that a man like '
this would be much more capable of crushing the i
Haahdi than of reconstructing in five years what he '
had destroyed in five days,
f His ambition has taken the form of a positive

mission. As the " Divine Fignro from the North,"

L Gordon dreams of empire — a king of the negro
people of Africa — " withont a crown."
On the 21th of April, in pursuance of the plan 1
I had formed at the inception of the expedition, I j
left Gondokoro with the eoldiera Said and Abd-el- ]

GONDOKORO.

ItaLman, who had volunteered to accompany me
the expoditioD southward.

The mysterious regions of Lake Victoria (where
M'Tefi is king) and the eourcea of the Nile had
been and were BtiU the Eldorado of African ex-
plorers. The problem of the Nile eoarcea was still
an open question, because of the long gap between
Lakes Victoria and Albert. My self-imposed task
then was to complote the work of Speke and Baker.

The accomplishment of this purpose, together
with the discovery of Lake Ibrahim or Lake Long,
a third great basin of the Nile, amid untold hard-
ships and Bufferings, is recounted in the volume
entitled, " Central Africa : Naked Truths of Naked
Peoples."

I reached Gondokoro, on my return, the 18th
of October. Gordon met me in the most affeo-
tionate manner. He said ; " Long, you have d
a great work ; you will be a hero now. I
going to photograph you. Tou must go d<
to Khartoum." lie took me out to where the
canism had stood, and, pointing to the graves of
Linant and Dc Witt, said, " Anson and Campl
are down the river at Khartoum."

In his book, " Colonel Gordon in Central
rica," he writes, October, 1874 : " Long wll

1

42

THE THREE PROPDETS.

M'Tb^; have not beard of him for six months.
Khedive was qnite charmed with Long's accoimt of |
M'T66, and is Bending up a gorgeous carriage for
him, which I do not thiak he will ever get from '
me. Long only saw hira once." This refusal to
eend np the carriage to IVl'Tse was a great eouree
of regret to the king. The remark that I had only j
seen M'Ts6 once was a singular statement indeed,
since I had been tlie guest of that African king |
for one month, and saw him frequently ; much too i
often for the poor victims who, notwithstanding '
my protest that it was nnbeeoraing a king, were
brutally sacrificed in my honor.

October 20, he says : *' Long came in the day
before yesterday. He has had a hard time of it.
Ho left this place for Fatiko on April 2i; got
there in ten days; thence to Kanima Falls, He
went to M'Te6 and got a good reception. Ho
went down to Urondogani, and thence, with two
canoes, descended the Nile to Foueira. He found
no cataracts at all on the route. This is a great
thing for me, for Fatiko is ten days from her^
Foueira four days from Fatiko, and then I have
a water-course to within three days of M'Tse's pal-
ace. Long says he passed through a large lake be-
tween Urondogani and Foueira ; lie was attacked

GONDOKORO.

by Keba Kega's men en. route, and had to figlit his
way tJirongh near M'rooli.

October 22 : "I am sorry for it, but two
clieikhs are going to M'Tsfi to teach him the Ko- '

The fact is, that at Gordon's dictation I wrote
a letter to the Khedive for the express purpose of j
asking that two fikia (prieets) should be sent from I
Cairo, and I marveled mnch thereat at the time.
The fikis were accordingly sent up in reply to this
letter.

"I have boon so cross since I wrote you, and J
why 1 The roaaon is, that I was made ill by the I
utter feebleness of my staff" — meaniug me, with-
out doubt. " Came back sick, took possession of ]
mc as servant, and of my things as his ; lost Uis
own bed, took mine ; got wet, took a chilL I
have now given orders that all ilbiesa is to take
place away from me ; that the staff are not to come I
near me except on duty,"

" I am withdrawing all my men from Keba
Rega, who with them was privy to the attack on
Long ; they were Dongola soldiers."

It may be interesting to the reader to note jnst
here that, when about to return from Ugunda by J
the river Nile, King M'Ta6 sent me his own dangh-

4i . THE THREE PROPHETS.

ter, about ten years of age, and several other jonn^ ]
ladies and boys as a present. Do not Btart, dear
reader : tLis is court ctiqaette in Uganda — noblesse
oblige — and one can not refuse, nnless to give mor-
tal offense, and besides endanger the life even of a
daughter.

This Uganda princess ia in Cairo now ; she has
been tenderly cared for by the sisters at the con-
vent tliere ; she has been baptized and educated at
my expense. I have hoped to send her hack to her
father, and proposed, had it not been for the pres-
ent troubles in Egypt, to ask the Khedive to marry
her o£E to an Egyptian officer and send him and his
princess spouse to the court of her father, there to ;
represent the interests of his government.

I submit that her conversion, to Christianity is'j
of more value, perhaps, than the eonveraon of her I
father, whom Mr. Stanley, subsequent to my visit I
to him, claims to have converted, and for his edi-
fication caused to be translated the Bible and psalm- I
books into the Ugunda language ; a translation
somewhat difficult to accomplish when it is under-
stood that one year before, when I was in Ugunda^
the idiom of that country was still unwritten.

Linant, who was in Ug\mda at the same time as ■
Stanley, says, after Stanley had gone away, JFTbS

">9 ^1
ear ^^H

THE SOtJEOES OF THE NILE. 4S J

i day in his preeence leveled liie gun at one of I
8 wives and blew off the top of her head, exckinKl
ing, " Oh, what a. good shot am I ! "

It has been reported, I may add, very recently»|
that M'Tse, distracted by the many doginae which '
he has been nrged to accept by the Methodist, Bap-
tist, Presbyterian, and other missionaries sent out to
him, in despair has ordered them all to go; and, hav-
ing collected fifty virgins, he caused them to be slain
in order to propitiate the gods of his ancient fetich.

I have said in "Naked Truths": "King M'Tsfi
had adopted the Moseulman faith when I entered
the country. Being a soldier and not a missionary,
I did not nndertalte Lis conversion. It was, in my
^pinion, only lost time." Time has proved the cor- .
s of this conclusion.

VI.

THE B0UECE3 OF THE NILE.

A araacLAR error has been committed by GierM
byal Geographical Society of London, in the f
tange of the name of Lake Ibrahim, discovered'!

46 THE THREE PEOPUETS,

by me, to that of Coj4, with Gordon's name there-
on. I addrefised a respectful protest to Sir Euth-
crford Alcoek, K. C. E., President of the Society,
and to my distingaished friend, the late Sir Bai^
tie Frore. I said, " I am naturally jealous of this
lien which attaches my name to those of Speke
and Baker as a Nlle-sonrco discoverer." In reply
they referred me to Gordon, "who kindly wrote me
a private note, inclosing a letter of reetificatioQ,
saying :

I gave my sketch sheets to the Royal Geographn
ical Society, rough as tliey were, and on them weri
written tlie native names. Old map was put togetbel
when I was in the Soudan, and had I known that y
would have wished the name given to the lake to b
inserted, it would have been so, thus : Lake Cojd
alias Lake Ibrahim, Lake Long.

The letter to the "Herald" was as follows, a:
dated :

UissowA, Dceember 9, 1E79.
To THE EDrroR : Those who may he intorestt
in geographical discoveries will remember that il
1874 Colonel Long, of the Egyptian staff, paest
down the Victoria Nile, from Nyamyongo, where
Speke was stopped, to M'rooli, thus at the risk of his
Ufe settling the question, before nnsolvcd, of the iden-
tity of the river above tJrondogani with that belowM
M'rooli. He also discovered a lake midway hetwt

len- 1 1

1

THE SOUEOES OF THE NILE. 471

tlieao places, wbicb be chilled Lake Ibrahim. Passing

that way afterward, I ascertained that the native
name of the Lake was Coj^, and wrote this name on
the map. I think that you will agree with me that,
as maps are made for the use of travelers, the native
names should be inserted iu preference to names given J
by explorers, and which are unknown to the nativciF
guides.

In writing thus I in no way wished to take from. '
Colonel Long the merit due to him for his discovery
of this lake, or for his perilous journey.

Those who care to study the successive steps which
built up the map of the course of the Nile, will know
that to Speko is due the discovery of one portion, to
Baker that of another, and to Colonel Long that of an-
other, and of the lake alluded to. Explorers in future
times, who change the names of places given by their
predecessors to those known by the natives, ca
bo considered to detract from their predecessors^ i
merits-
Believe me, yours very truly,

C. G. Gordon,

The following letter, I am sure, will give real
pleasure to the American Geographical Society,
■whose members are doubtless distinguished geog^
raphera, devoted to geographical research, and \
will be glad to learn that a fellow-conntryraanhaH
in this absolute manner, attached hie name to t
discovery of the Nile sources :

THE THREE PEOPnETS.

^^^^B BDauKanui OjLRDxn, IiOhddit, Jiily 1, 1S8I.

^^^■^ Deab 6ir : I &ia requested by Sir Rutherford
' Alcock to iofomi you that he laid your letter to him
of the 10th May before the Council of the Society,
and they have directed the attention of M, Haven-
stein, who is engaged in compiling for the Society a
large map of Equatorial Africa, to the matter, with a
view to due credit being given to you for priority
of discovery and naming of Lake Ibrahim on the map
alluded to.

J Tour obedient servant,

^^V U. W. Bates,

^^^^k Aaaietant Secretary.

I Lake Ibrahim, eo named by the Khedive of

Egypt in honor of his father, ia the home of the
lotus and the lotus-caters. On the treaeheroas
bosom of the lake, the broad-leaved plant grows
luxuriantly, and incessant storms add to the dangers
which beset the unwary traveler. This is not all :
the immeDse vegetable matter when decayed breaks
away and causes great islands to form; on thes
live the mythical lotus-eaters, whoae sole food i
tJie lotus-flower and dried fisli. The discovery of
the lotos and lotus-eaters is another fact taken
from the poetic realm of fiction. There was a

J legend which said that the stranger who ate of it
forgot his country, and remained forever within its

I sacred c

I obliged

THE SOURCES OF THE NILE.

sacred confines — a lotoptage — and by dire necessity
obliged to eat the fiewra en. houton of this fabled
flower. In the Thebaide the lotus may be found!
sculptured upon a column standing in KarDak,.!
and of which a poet has sung :

" La s'clfive un lotos dont lea flcui-s en bouton
Se peignent eu s'ouvrant dca coulcurs de Sidon,
Ce lotos doDt la pudiqae fiear
Ouvre en tremblant son calice bleii^tre
Au diea du jour dont elle est idoliitre."

To return to Colonel Gordon : In the month o
January, two English officers, Messrs, Watson s
Chippendale, arrived at Lardo. They had been si
up through the influence of Genera! Stanton, Hel
Britannic Majesty's Conaul-Gcnoral at Cairo, ■whom "
Gordon had said was greatly opposed to my nomi-
nation as his chief of staff. But in reply to Stan-
ton's protest, Gordon said to him : " I like Ameri-
cans. I had them with me in China " (referring to
Ward and Burgevine).

I regarded the arrival of these oflicera
naturally as the wort of Stanton, and in the fui
therance of hia expression to Gordon, that
should be Burronnded by English rather th
Americans. Mcssra. Watson and Chippendale c
not remain long, however ; they left tlie service i

IT

THE THEEE PROPHETS.

few months aftenrard, Mr. 'Wataon tho first,
drew at Khartoum tlie exorbitant aiary
entire two years' servica for which they had con-
tracted, much to the disgust of the Governor of
Kliartonm who jiaiii them.

Mr. Maruo about this time came ont aa a bota-
nic and geologist for the accoant of tlie Aoetrian
Geographical Society. Mr. Marno and Maaen.
Watson and Chippendale eoon were on bad tenus ;
finally, Mamo came to me «*ith a letter addressed to
him from Colonel Gordon ; it read : " I wish yon
to leave my provinces at once." Marflo pleaded
with me to take him as my gacat to the ^iam-
Niam country, under a promise that he would pub-
lish nothing without my authority.

In the short intervals of my stay in camp, go-
ing or returning from expeditions, I had occasion
to remark the singular habit which Gordon had of
retiring to liis hut, where he would remain, for
days at a time, engaged in the 3>oruEal and medita-
tion of his ever-present Bible and prayer-book.
When m this retirement his orders were that ho
shonld not be disturbed for any reason of service
whatever ; a hatchet and a flag were placed at his •
door as a sign that ho was unapproachable. When
these were removed, Gordon would reappear in full

1

for the ^^fl

I
4

THE BOUEOES OF THE NILE.

dress, cleanlj Bhaven, and the ill-hmnor from whit
he had aiifEered Lad vanished to give place to cheep-
fulness. On such occasions he would come into my
hut in. almost boyish glee, and say ; " Oome now,
Long, old fellow, let's have a good breakfast — a lit-
tle J. afid 8. Do yoQ feel up to it f " The h. and s.
I took but seldom. Gordon and I generally drank
coffee, very black, with a quinine-bottle always on
the table, and from which we took ad I3>itum the
quinine instead of sugar.

It occui-s to me just here to mention a circum-
stance which happened sabsequently during Gor-
don's visit to Cairo. The American officers fre-
quently visited him. One day he wrote a letter to
General Sherman, of the United States army, beg-
ging him to come out to Egypt and put aright
these officers whom he thought in trouble. Now,
why in any case General Sherman had been
ten to is not clear, unless, indeed, the gift of di
raonds by Ismail Pasha, the Khedive, said to be
worth sixty thousand dollars, was in the mind of
Gordon a sufficient re-ason to look upon that officer
as a sort of arbiter for the American officers in
Egypt, However this may be, the distinguished
general may have an opportunity now to restore
these diamonds to the Khedive who gave them;

w

THE THREE PROPHETS.

for Ismail moBt be ettdly in want, if we maj judge
by his refusal to pay tlie bill of an employ^ who,
only a few days ago, in Paris, met him in the
PalaiB-Royal gardens and violently assaulted him.
What a commentary npon the man of whom I
ha^e spoken in "Naked Truths " as the regenera-
tor of Egypt ! But then this was before the crisis
in Egypt, and before the world could know of Is-
mail's misdeeds, and when the writer was an enthu-
siastic soldier in Central Africa.

Gordon writes, January, 1875, from Lardo, on
the Nile, near Gondokoro:

A steamer has arrived with Ijong (returning from
Khartoum) ; very glad to see him j but, unfortunate'
ly, he has brought up Arab soldiers. For two days
I dared not ask Long, who told me that he had asked
for four hundred soldiers for me at Khartoum,
whether these troops were Arabs or blacks. At last
I asked. They were Arabs I He did his best, but it
was killing for me.

Gordon was right ; these Arab soldiers {JeUaht,
not Arabs ; for it must bo remembered that there
are no Arab soldiers in Egypt : it is a niianomer to
call an Egyptian soldier an Arab) were a bad set —
far worse than Gordon could suppose. The Prince
Minister of War had given me these men, for the

TUE 80TTR0ES OF TllE NILE.

moat part Bent from the prisODB of Cairo — exiled
criminala of all kiada, from the asaaBsin to the pettj
thief; with these, and, fortunately for me, a col-i
umn of the gallant black Soudanieh corps, I madal
the expedition to the Niam-Niam countiy, joining!
thug from the Nile the point reached hy Dr, F
Sehweinf urth ; establishing military' and trading- 1
posts, and opening np to trade by annexation vaatl
provinces rich in ivory, which the natives wereJ
glad to exchange for beads and cotton cloths.

On the 22d of January, 1875, Gordon wrote taM
ma as follows :

Colonel Long: Ton will proceed with a detaehJ
ment of Arabs to Makraka, obtaining from Covo Agba,a
on the best terms you can, the necessary number on
portera.

On arrival at Makraka, see that a detachment (
men are sent to the further station, Fadlallab, and-l
that all spare arms and ammunition at each statioi
are under the regular soldiers' supervision.

Yon will appoint a commandant of troops at eachn
station; at the larger the officer will receive £3 i
month extra, at the smaller the officer will receiv<
£3 a month ejitra.

If yon think good to establish a third station, d^
so, and make the officer you select its head, both miltS
tary and political, with £3 a month extra.

With respect to Azib and Ali Effendi, they are

54

THE TOBEE PROPHETS.

(you know) to try and raise three hundred men audi
to bring .them here. If yoa think it possible you ]
might bring me one hundred men more for another
regiment; of course, if these natives will not go with-
out one or two of the Dongolowee they know, then send
Dongolowee to that extent with them. Men speaking* J
Arabic can be made corporals and sergeants.

The porters I have written for from Achmet, the J
Mudir of Makraka, are to bring up snch stores andfl
ammunition of the Arab troops as you can not takQ.F
See Azib and Ali EffendL

The twenty black soldiers now at Makraka are tofl
come back with Ali and Azib Hffendis, to whom If
have given them.

If men can not be obtained in such numbers as I
mention, then I must be content with lesser nttmbers.
Tou will stay at Makraka as long as you think fit.

I have given my idea of bow to proceed, viz., by r
marching to Lunguno, thence commnnicaling with I
Covo Agha. The nuggar with stores, etc., can go to J
Lunguno. C. G. Gordon.

Inform the commandeots of regular troops that J
while paying due respect to the Mudirs and Vakils, I
they are independent of those officials eiccept in case |

of an attack, etc.

I bronglit back with mc, besides the six himdi-ed
Niam-Niam warriors who had joined me in the bat-
tle against inimical tribes, six hundred ivory
tasks, togetlier with curions specimens of the races 1

F

f oftl

THE SOUEOEa OF THE NILE.

of tlie country, and a speeiraen adult woman of thi
mythical Ticki-Ticld or Akka pygmy race. Tiekt-l
Ticki is now in Cairo, and is the favorite plaything
— being quite an acrobat — in the harem of the
Khedive's mother.

Upon my return from this expedition I fouam
Gordon awaiting rae at Regaf. It waa there that j
he proposed that we should divide the provinces
between ua. "Take," said he, "from Fatiko south
—I will take the rest. We will govern here.j
These people should not belong either to the Arab|
or the Turks."

I laughed, thanked him, and said: "Tfo, Col-
onel, I have no ambition to roign among savages.
I've had quite enough of savages and savage conn-
trica." "Whereupon he said : " Well, you know you
and I can never live together ; it won't do. I am
not mean, howevei-. Here is a letter to the Khe-
dive. Go to Cairo; I have recommended that you
command an expedition in order to open an equa-
torial road from the Indian Ocean to the lakes.
The road is much shorter than by the Nile, the dif-
ficolties of which you will tell the Khedive."

I quitted Gordon on the 21st of March, 187^
after very kind adieus had been said, and tume(
toward the north to rotnm by the Nile to Cairo

■r

TEE TUEEE PROPHETS.

thna to complete my joamej to and from the
soorceH of the Nile to the Medtterraneao.

I Bnbseqiiently commanded the land forces of
this expedition ; McKillop Pacha, a dittting^ifihed
Englieh officer, commanding the naval forces. We
took posseesioa of the coast from Cape Guardafui
to Kieraayu and the Juba River. When my com-
mand, numbering one thoasand men of all anne,
had firmly established itself on the Jnba River,
Lord Derljy addressed a note to the Khedive de-
manding the retnm of the expedition. Mr. Archi-
bald Forbes has said of it :

Trouble arose. Interests clashed. The Zanubar
oercbants became alarmed for their equatorini trade,
and the Aden settlement grew nervous about its
Somali coast supplies. Finally, at the instance of the
British GrOVBrnment, the expedition had to be aban-
doned.

Mr. Forbes shonld have stated this differently —
for the trouble which arose and interests which
clashed grew oat of the capture by me of more than
four hundred slaves, who fell into my hands and
were liherated, when the forcible taking of Kismayu
was made necessary by the hostile attitude of the
troops of Said Bnrgash. This was the trouble
which clashed with the interests of Dr. Badger, the

GORDON'S RETCRS" TO THE SOUDAN. 57 1

Anglo-Zanzibarite. The interests of humane Eug-j
land also were [Llarmed at the poBBible concurrencaM
of an Egyptian trade with the Somali tribes; ]
Hence Lord Derby's note.
In his hook Gordon writes :

NovEirnER 16, 1875. — Thick package from Khe-
dive telling me he had put McKillop under my o
mand, and Lad sent him with three men-of-war to
Juba, with six hundred men to oecnpy it, and for mo
to put Long under him. He would not let me go.
Grand careerl Now look here, the man bad gone to
all this expense under the impression I would stick to
bim, eto. I am in for it.

H. H. (His Highness) sent off McK. and L. to Juba I
and told tbem to wait for me. They will wait a long I
time, I expect.

VII.

OOHOOS'S KETHKK TO THE BOtJDiJJ.

In 1879 there was no one in Egypt, not eTeOjl
M. Earing himself, the Comptroller of Egyptian,!
Finances, who did not know that Gordon's admior
istration had practically ruined the Soudan. Wheal

THE THREE PROPHETS.

M. Baring de&ireJ to mako an examinatioQ of tbo
cauBG of the deficit of his govemment which Gordon
had avowed m a letter written to Eivers WUeon in
the month of October, Gordon refused to permit any
interference of the Anglo-Egyptian Comptroller,
and accompanied his rcfasal by a letter couched in
the most ineulting terms. M. Baring thereupon
demanded and obtained tbo recall of Gordon.

M. Baring, when it was first proposed to retnm
Gordon to the Soudan, opposed it in the most pro-
nounced manner. What are we to think of hifl
final snbmifieion ! Was it in obedience to the Mis-
sionary and Briti&h and Foreign Anti-Slavery So-
cieties, with whom Gordon was considered in the
light of a " Divine Figure from the il^W^A," or
■was it, as we have aheady said, in pursuance of
that plan of absorption by his own Government
■which, tbe better to efEect its purpose, was to cause
Egypt to abandon the Soudan in order that Gordon
with his vassal chief, the Maahdi, by perBiiasioa
of the Egyptian gold taken from the Egyptian
treasury, might become the king of the negroes,
with an empire whose limits we have already
traced}

tis interesting to refer here to the fact tliat i
u 1880 Gordon wrote to the "Times" that

-^

GOEDOirS KETURN TO THE SODDAS.

"lie had always oounseled the eYacnataon of tht
Sondan." This was evidently to prepare the piib>1
lie mind for the cry which has been pereisteiitly
made before and wnce the appearance of the
Maahdi.

A few months ago, on learning of the victories
of the Maahdi, he wrote : " The danger now conaistol
in the establishment near the Egyptian frontier of
an active Mohammedan power which will exercise
a great influence upon the Egyptian population
placed nnder the power of England, They will
say that they also can do what the Maahdi
dono ; that is, attempt to drive out the stranger an^
the unbeliever. This danger, besides, does nol
menace alone thfl English in Egypt, The success '
of the Maahdi has already created in Arabia and
Syria a dangerous agitation. At Daraaecus notices
have been placarded all over the city calling the
population to revolt against the Turks, If the Eaat-
em Soudan is entirely abandoned to the Maahdi, the j
Arab tribes established along the two bants of thel
Red Sea will rise. Turkey will be obliged to i
terfere, if only in self-defense. If, on the contrary, I
nothing is done, it is possible that the whole Onentall
question will be opened by the triumph of thai
Mnahdi. The fortifications proposed to bo crectoA

40

TnE THREE PROPHETS.

•t Wadjr.Uiilfai to eervu lu a defense will go for
ttoUung, for tbcsu raniparts will not stop the ooo*

" Tli« evtcnAtJoii of the Soudan can not tlien be
jiiit[fi«d from the point of view of the defense of
Egypt proper."

When Gordon arrived in Cairo en route to the
Bondu), he again changed this kngnage. To the
d<Jeg>l« of the Byndicate for the protection of the
commercial intermta of the Soudan, who went to
hiin, he declared that England coiiid not tuke npon
licrwlf the occupation of the Soudan, and thereforo
it mufit be abandoned.

"Abandoned to whom?" aeked the committee,

" Who knows ? To God 1 " replied Gordon.

" Do you think," eaJd the delegates, "that the
Maahdi and the chcikhs around him can constitnts
a BcriouB government i "

" I know what yaa wonld Bay, and, beliove me,
I cun do nothing. I do not think that joa will aek
me to reconquer the Sondaa to give it to those who
]ostit"(«wr).

" LiBtan : the Soudan la a beantifnl woman who
giive herficlf to Egypt. She now asks for a di-
vorce. How win you refuse it ! "

Mr. Forbes lias eaid that there was a hopo in

i

GORDON'S RETOEN TO THE SOUDAN. 61

England that Gordon — wlio was on tho eve of going
to the Congo in the interests of the anti-elavery ex-
pedition of His Majesty the King of the Belgians — J
might go to the Soudan, and that the " nniversahty f
of the aspiration had heen kindled by an oppor-
tune stroke of journalistic perspicacity." Mr. Forbes
refers to the interview published in the " Fall Mall
Gazette," which gives a Bingnlar and yet faithful J
picture of Gordon, The unlveraaUiy of t/ie aspires I
tian included Her Britannic Majesty's Government.
In fact, Mr. Gladstone has said that the Govern-
ment had long previously entertained the desiie to
avail themselves of General Gordon's services, and,
that the hindrance was the aversion of the Egyptia
Government. The aversion of the Egyptian Gov-«
emment was plain to the Egyptians and to M..I
Baring.

Mr. Gladstone has said in the Hoase of Commons,
General Gordon went not for the parpose of recon-
quering the Soudan, or to persuade the chiefs of the
Soudan, the sultans at the head of their troops, to
submit themselvea to the Egyptian Government. He
went for no such purpose as that. He went for the
double purpose of evacuating the country, by extri-
cating the Egyptian garrisons, and reconstituting it — •
by giving back to these sultans their ancestral
withdrawn or Buspended during the period

uting it — ■ ^_J
al powers^^^^H

62 THE THREE PROPHETS.

tian ocoupatioQ. Wo are unwilling, I may eay ire
w(-ro resolved to do Dotbing which ehould interfere
with the pacific scheme — the ooly Bchcme which prom-
iwf'] a aatisfactory BoJutionof the Soudanese difBcnlty,
by at once extricating the garrieon and reconstituting ,
tho country upon ite old basis of local privileges.

It is Bingular to remark upon the dclicacjr and i
tender regard for these sultana to whom is to be
restored their ancestral j>owers.

Only a short time ago, they went in England by
tlio name of blackguards, nilhauE, robbers, and
ciiMhroata, and 1 have alwaj-a believed that thoj
rBally deserved tho epithet.

Now, has it ever occurred to the intelligenb
reader why, with an able and distinguiBhed offi-
cer of the Anglo-Egyptian army already in Khar^
toum, General Gordon should be sent for to evaco-
ate those provinces at a moment when that evacua- ,
tion was perfectly easy, and when tho Maahdi was i
not within five hundred miles of its garrisons, and
when the retreat was always practicable by the river I
The Governor, Halifa Pasha, it has been asserted,
has loyally held the desert tribes in check, and ■
haa surrendered only after a heroic defense of
Eerber.

On the niomiDg of the 18th of Tebru-iry of

GOPvDON'S KETUEN TO THE SOUDAN. 63

thia jear, Gordon entered Khartoum. He la repre- I

aented by the English presa aa having been received 1
and acclaimed as a Eoltati, a father, and aavior.
He went to the palace. There, on the shelves, he
found the Government ledgers, on whose pages
were the long record of the outstanding debts that
weighed down the overtaxed people ; on the walla
hung the courhatch whips and bastinado rods, im-
plements of tyranny and torture.

He built a great bonfire in front of the palace,
and into it pell-mell were tiirown these frightful I
witnesses of the Soudanieh's wrongs. It was left 1
him still " to cut ofE the tail of the dog." He |
issued a proclamation re-establiahing the slave trade I J

THE PMOCLAMATIOIfS.

To >T-r- THE NoTiBLES OF THE SoiJDAN ;

In accordance with an agreement between Great ^
Britain and the Khedive, I have been named Vaii of
the Sondan. In consequence thereof, this country
has become independent and autonome, and I have
given orders in this sense to all the Mudirs and e
ployes of the Government. I am decided to give you I
back the happiness aod the prosperity which you en- f
joyed formerly under His Highness Said Pasha,!
Know also that Uia Majesty the Sultan, Emir of I

'^

of h:

■^ THE THKEE PROPHETS.

li«Tcr8 and Kbaiife of God, had the intention to send,
in order to restore older, a powerful corps d'armhe
compoeed of TnrkUh Boldicra famed for their courage
and valor. Bot I have preserved, from the fonr years
passed in the Soudan as Governor-General, a great
affection for yon. I have had pity of your situation,
and I hare contributed with all my force to prevent
the §ending of these Turkish troops. I have come
myself, hoping to put an end to the efFusicu of blood,
which is against the will of God, of his prophet, and
of his saints. You have beard that for your good, and

obviate all complaints, I have formed a counoil

iposed of Moulovks (petty kings) of the Soudan,

id it is they who will govern in the future. This

•council will assemble twice a week, and oftener if it il

necessary,

I abandon to yon all the unpaid taxes and impostH
np to the end of 16S3, also the half of that which yoirT
ought to pay now. That which I do by this present,!
is to show you my desire to give you back your happi-fl
ness and prosperity, and to establish among yon tbatV
justice which constitutes the progress of a country.

Believe that which I say, for I call God to witness I
j^at it is the trutli.

(Signed) GoBDON Pasha,

Yali of the Soudan.

U.

) THE People op tbe Sofdan :

My desire is very great to give you peace ana]
mnquillity. I know that the hardship which opposl-l

r

GORDOS'8 RETURN TO TDE SOUDAN. 65

tion to the slave traffic has caused yon ie very great. J
To-day I desire you to recommence with perfect free-
dom the traffic in slaves, and I have given orders that
public criers shall make this ksown to all, that they
may dispose of their domesticn as they may see proper,
and no one In the future shall interfere with the com-

(Signed) Goedon Pabha, i

Vali of the Soudan.

Ye Salaam I Had the Sphinx started from its ■!
eternal pedestal, the surprise of the world — of I
Egypt even — could not have been greater. In I
Europe the unexpected millennium, when civilt- 1
zation has been asked to surrender to barhariBtn, '
has fallen upon the public like a frozen douche. \
Gordon, of all men, the Mosea of the black race! '
He who, the other day, was ready to give his life
for these poor people, comes now, instead of bind-
ing up their wounds, to rivet anew their chains t ■
Shades of Wilberforce 1

The "Times," however, endeavors to palliate I
the act, and says: "Every man who knows any- 1
thing about the matter, knows that domestic slave- 1
ry has existed in the East since the days of Abra*fl
ham; that it is a very different thing from thai
slavery of kidnapped negroes on Southern planta-f
tions." But why descant opon the eubjeot i

66 THE THKEE PR0PIIET8.

tnith IB, it is tlie epilogne to the comtncncement 1
of Gordon's gOTemment ten years ago ; and it i
tlie logical Bequencc to that syEtem of disorgaoizft- I
tion which has been the aim alike of Gordon and [
the BritiBh GoTemment. It is left as to exclaim : j
cruautes de la raison d^£!tat !

THE MAMELUKE AND THE FELLAH.

Egypt began the present century under thfil
banner of the Mameluke ; she bids fair, at its \
cloBG, to bivouac in the tent of the Maahdi.

Let ns c^t a retrospective glance at that period J
which preceded the advent of the French in Egypi
It will enable us to nnderstand the chain of«
events wliich has brought Eg^-pt to this unhappy
honr, and at the same time show that, although the
Kameluke is gone, his shadow is still npon the land.

The reign of the Mameluke had been for twoj
hundred and sixty-seven years a long series of i
ternecine strifes, crimes, and revolutions of palaceS
Forty-seven princes had sat upon the ancient thronw^

TEE MAMELIJKE AND THE FELLAC.

67

of the Pharaohs, and all of them finished their ca-
reer by a violent death. In 1517 the Turk succeed-
ed to the Mameluke in Egypt.

The memoirs of Napoleon thus resume their
domination :

Selim I. left forty thousand meu to guard his con-
quoBt, and divided them, into seven militia corps, six
of which were oomposed of Ottomans, the seventh of
Mamelukes who had survived their defeat. lie con-
fided the government to a pasha, twenty-four beys, a
corps of effendis, and to two divans. Of these twenty-
four beys, one was a kiaya, or the lieutenant of the
pacha. The corps of Mamelukes, composed of the
finest and the bravest, became the most numerous.
Tbe first six corps weakened and died off, and In a
little while did not number more than seven thousand
men, while the Mamelukes alone numbered more than
six thousand.

In 16i6 the revolution was completed. The re-
maining Turks were sent away, and the Mamelukes
reigned supreme. Their chief took the name of Cheikh
4 Belad (Chief of the Country). The paahaUk was
no longer of any consideratioQ.

In 1767 Ali Bey, Cheikh el B Had, declared him-
self independent, issued coin, and took posseEsion of
Mecca. He made war against Syria, and allied him-
self with the Russians.

At this moment all beys were Mamelukes.

In 1798 each one of the twonty-four beys had his
own homo, and followers more or less numerous. The

THE THREE PROPHETS.

least of them had two hundred Mamelukea. Moi
Bey bad twelve hundred. These twenty-four
together formed a Bort of republic which submiti
to the most influential ; they divided among thei
Belvea the lands and the places.

The Mamelukes were Christian -bom. They wera
bought at the ago of seven or eight tii Georgia, Min-
grelia, and the Caucasus, and brought to Cairo by the
merchants of Coastantinople, and sold to the beys.
They were white, and fine-looking men. Prom the
lowest places in the household they raised themselTes
progressively, and became the moulleziaia of the vil-
lages, A-io-chiefs, or govemora of provinces, and finally
beya. Their race did not propagate in Egypt ; they
married ordinarily with Circassians or strangers. They
had no children ; or, if so, they died before arriving at
maturity. From their marriages with the indigenes
their children grew up to advanced age ; but the raca
rarely perpetuated itself beyond the third generation
and for these reasons they were obliged to reci
themselves by the purchase of children from the Can-
't is estimated that in 1798 the Mamelukes
numbered fifty thousand, men, women, and children
included. They could mount twelve thousand men.

The 21st of July, 1798, Bonaparte, in the i
loua battle beneath the Pyramids, destroyed sevei
thonsand of this grand and magnificent cavalrj
corps, with which, and the Frencli soldier,
roasted he could make tiio tour of the world.
The 1st of March, ISll, Mehcmet Ali extenni-|

itted^H
heu^H

raca^^J
ion^H

THE MAKELUKE AND THE FELLAH.

Qated the last of tlie Mamelukes, at the famous
feast -which ended in massacre, within the courts
of the citadeL

The treaty of 1841, following the battle of
Nezib and defeat of the Turks by his son Ibra-
him the soldier, assured to Mehemet Ali the he-
reditary possession of Egypt with the title of
Viceroy.

Mehemet Ali died in 1849, and Ibrahim suc-
ceeded him. He died four months afterward and
gave place to Abbae.

In 1854 came Mohammed Sa'id Pasha, sumamed
" The Good." It was he who granted to M. Ferdi-
nand de Leaaeps the concession of the Canal mari-
time de Sues.

At his death in 1863, the public debt of Egypt
was only three million pounds sterling.

Ismail Paaha, son of Ibrahim, succeeded him.
Thirteen years afterward, when, under the politi- |
cal pressure of England and France, Ismail was
forced to render an account of the financial situa-
tion which he had created, and accept the Anglo-
French control, the public debt had reached the
enormous sum of £105,184,380, and represented
an expenditure of £6,574,000 a year over and above
the anneal income of the country.

I

TIIE THREE PKOPDETS.

How was it possible that thirteen years
[fficed to create sach a deficit ) Where had thi
millions gone? A few pnblic works had been coi
Btnicted, ia order to play at progress and eivilizatioi
and several pasteboard palaces. It is tme, he
boulevards in every direction in tJie Frank qui
of Cairo, and did Uauaamamiise the already beanti^
ful city. But the burden of this expense fell npoa
the proprietor, for the moat part ; ruin, in fact, if
hia property happened to be on the proposed roadi
and Ismail, nnder pretext of public necessity, coi
fiscated the property oftentimes to his own use.
The greateir part of this debt, however, hi
in aecamnlated by the missions, with unlimitt
credits, confided to Nubar Pasha, to obtain from the
Sublime Porte illusory firmans to secure the adhe-
of European diplomacy to his project of judi-
reform, and the apportionment of exorbitai
to the princes of his family. Add to thi
contraction of usurious loans, enriching alike
the banker, the minister, and their aEsociates ; the
creation of scandalous fortunes from the public
iry, in favor of notoriously venal and
adherents whom Daudet has admirably
\ in the " Nabab " ; the confiscation
the lands of the fellah, and their absorption i

ion
>ds^H

;he^^

idi-^«

r

THE MAMELDKE AND THE FELLAH.

nJ

his own private coloeeal fortune. TbcEe are some I
of the direct causes which contribnted to the ruiu \

of Egypt.

Gordon in his book saya : " Nubar once sninmed '
up the Khedive as follows : ' He is a man of no
principle, but capable of very chivalrous impulses,
and if he was with a better entourage he would
do well.'"

Nubar is an Armenian, and for the tenth time I
is Minister for Foreign Affairs in Egypt, Ho has
been the faithful ally of British interests in Egypt,
although he has elected to mate himself a subject
of the German Empire. He, too, has dreamed of i
empire, and hopes even now, aa a reward for hiffl
services to Great Britain, that he may be the re-
gent in Egypt, with the ulterior design of wearing
a German crown in Syria, or an English one in
Aby^inia. It was for this that Kubar insisted J
upon the unhappy expedition to Abyssinia. This J
man was the Mcphisto who led Ismail to his i
Gordon says of him :

Nubar has never been to Egypt more tban a
comparatively low-bom Armenian, who was clever
enough to dispute with the consuls -general, and who,
when Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in the Privy j
Council, waa fully aware of all the loans, eta, of the^

THE THREE PBOPHETa

Mowffelish. In England one inquires how B0-and-50
becomes rich in the Government service ; might Dot
same qiteHtion bo asked in this case ?

^^^sa

'When iBinail Pallia ascended the throne of
1863, his fortune was indgnificant.
When he left it he had become the proprietor of
imense domains.
The Commission ere of the Debt had acarcely
upon the control of the finances, when they
[iBcovered that large sums of the revenue were be-
ing diverted — even in the face of the new order of
things — from the public treasury. The Minister of
Finance admitted that he had applied them to the i
urgent dbligat'tona of the Khedive. The 4th <£
November, 1876, Mr. Vivian, ConsuI-GenenJ of |
England, discovered a deficit of four millions of i
pounds.

The Khedive, alarmed lest a more minute ex-
amination might be made, and fcaruig thus an in-
evitable scandal, resolved, as Mr, Vivian has said in
Ilia dispatches, " to finish hy one of those dramatic
incidents which one may see only in histo?^ and in
Oriental life." A few days after the issue of the
protest of the Commiasioner of the Caisse ho
arrested hJs finance minister, Ismail Pasha the
Mouffeiish. This man was the foster-brother of

r

THE MAMELUKE AND THE FELLAH.

Ismail Khedive ; from a simple fellah (peasant) he
had risen in a few yeara to be the moEter of a
colossal fortune in money, lands, and a harem com-
posed of Circassian and Georgian houris, all olS
which had, it was well known, long since aronsed
the envy and cupidity of the Khedive. At one
bold stroke he was to regain his feet, which were
elippiog from under him, and with the well-filled
coffers of the Monffetish save his menaced throne.

The day after the arrest, the 15th of November,
1876, there appeared, for the information of tlie
good Cairene public, the following annonncement ;

The ex-Minister of Finance, Ismail Sadyk Pasha^.
has sought to organize a plot against His Highness the
Kiedive, by exciting the religious sentiments of the
native population against the scheme proposed by
Messrs. Goschen and Joubert. He has also accused
the Khedive of Belling Egypt to the Christians, and
taken the attitude of defender of the religion of the
country. These facts, revealed by the inspectors-
general of the provinces, and by the reports of the
police, have been confirmed by passages in a letter ad-
dressed to the Khedive himself by Sadyk Pasha in
giving his own dismissal. In presence of acts oE such
gravity, His Highness the ICbedive caused the matter
to be judged by his privy council, which condemned
Ismail Sadyk to exile, and close coufineraout at Dob'
gola.

3

4

KTMV^ THREE ritOPiir.TS. ^^^^^|

The same paper announced officially, 4 few ^^M
B later, liis death aa having occurred the 4th of ^H
December. But in official circloa in Cairo, at tha
consulates and elsewhere, it waa known that Istnail
Sadyk had died on the lOtli of November, five days
hefore his condemnation, to exile, and that Mas- I
tnpha Pasha, then Governor of Cairo, now min- j
ister and a colleague of Nubar, administered to him I
an official cup of coffee in the shape of cogniac, I
which had been the favorite beverage of the feUtJi. |
Minister of Finance, It has been said that " dead I
men tell no tales." A scapegoat waa necessary j
upon which to heap the odium for financial comip- I
tion and bankruptcy wliich had characterized the 1
events of the last year. I

Years before, the finger of snspicTOn had been J
poiated at IdmaU as having arranged a little rail- 1
way accident at Kaffir Azzayat, wliich waa intended |
to shorten his road to the enccesfiion of Said by I
the death of Achtnet and Halini. The princely '
party were retnrning from Alexandria to Cairo.
Siiid pasha, then Viceroy, had given a great fHe
in tho former city. Prince Ismail should also have .
been tLere, but he made illness his excuse and waa j

Knt. Aa the train bearing ita royal freight cam6 j
idering along to the river, too late the engi- I

r

THE MAMELUKE AKD THE FELLAH. 75

neer saw before him the open draw and the deep,
raging Nile below. The train went into the river,
one car upon the other, with a frightfnl craah.^
Halim Pasha, ekilled in athletic sports and with
great presence of mind, leaped from the carriage
into the river and swam ashore. Achmet was a
fat, ponderous man ; he could not follow, and was
loat. The mnrder of the Mouffetish brought viv-
idly to remembrance and apparent confirmation
the suspicions which attaclied to Ismail in proems
ing the death of Achmet,

It mattei-B not whether Ismail realized what he-
expected from the confiscated minister's property.
Humor says tliat he did.

The financial condition of Egypt had become
perilous in the extreme, when the nomination of
the Coraraisaiou of Inquiry waa made under the
leading control of England and Franc^ but to
which were now added Austria and Italy. M. Wil-
son, in his report to the Khedive, the 19th of
August, 1878, said that the first reforms to realize
would be to surround with guarantees the exercise
of absolute control, and to assign to that control
certain limits.

That the Khedive, in misasing the absolute
authority and control which was his, had been the

I

I

TIIE THHEE PROPHETS.

|. ..

^^^Bftt lie oagUt in conscqucace to be held personally
reepoDBible, and to this end cede to the state, in
order to make good the deficit:

First — All the property of the Dairas Saaieh.
aod Eassa.

Second — All the property of the Khedtvial
family.

iBmail had appropriated to himself 505,000
acre£, and had distributed among the princes of hia
family 425,729 acres.

The principle of Velat c'eet moi seemed to have
been innate vith lemsil.

From the moment of this enforced disgorge-
ment, Ismail lost no opportunity to make troable
for the Wilson-Nubar ministry. He both hated
and feared Nubar, Nnbar'a ambition, then as now,
was unbounded, and he hoped that he might be
called open to replace his master I

The irony of the situation was complete, when,

on the 19th of Febrnary, 1879, a mob of officers

and soldiers assaalted both Wilson and Nubar,

j pulled their beards, and kicked Nubar in the most

undignified manner.
^^^H These officers and men had been, for the meet
^^^^Et, nnpud for a period of thirty months, and, nn-

^

THE MAMELUKE AND THE FELLAH.

der the pretext of reform,, Eivere Wilson and T^u-
bar had menaced tbera with actaal disbandment
and without pay ; while, at the same time that J
this discharge was being consummated, they weraJ
giving place to an army of English employes wbosefl
enormouB salaries had become the scandal of \
city.

The mob smronnded the Ministry of Finances.
They cried, " Give na feloos (money) I " The
Khedive, accompanied by the consnls-goneral, and
escorted by a battalion of the garde, appeared
Qpon the scene. He monnted the stairs of the
ministry, and from the balcony harangued tbe
infuriated populace. He promised them speedy
satisfaction, and then ordered them to disperse.
They paid no heed to the admonitioD, aod Ismail
Pasha, while descending, waa seized 1
and would have been violently dealt i
the timely intervention of Abd-eM
ordered the battalion to charge with t
The officers drew their swords. The Khedive
ordered the troops to fire, and they discharged
their gnns in the air. In Cairo it was openly
chai^d that Ismail had invented the entire per-
formance, with the object of ridding himself of .
the Nnbar ministry. If so, it is another proof (

Itwj^l
d-Hei
:h ^bi

clothes,

but for

wbo

bayonet.

r

TUE THREE PROPUETS.

Uie danger of playing with fire, as iBtnail
learned to hia cost.

This was tlie germ of the psoudo-national party,
of which Ismail boasted that lie was the " chief,"*
and that " as the chief of state he felt it a sacred
duty to give expression to its legitimate aepirationB.**
It was an arm with wliJcli to sustain himself against
the powers whose active hostility he had at length
evoked — " Egypt for tlie Egyptians."

As tho result of this military .dcmonBtration,
Nubar resigned. A new ministry was formed un-
der the presidency of Prince Tewfik, II. "Wilson,
and dc BliguiSres, but for a month only. They gave
place to a ministry called National, nnder the presi-
dency of Cherif Pasha. Cherif undertook to present
a scheme for the eettleraent of the public debt,
which was promulgated in a viceregal decree dated
the 22d^uril. It waa considered an "open and
direct '^^■on of acrjuired rights " of the Gov-
ernmeni^of England and France, who refused to
recognize the decree, and who deemed the acta
which had marked the personal administration of
the Khedive to be "incoherent, b;idly inspired, and
inefficacioiiB," They conld not permit him longer to
role in Egypt. To this was added, to the surprise
of every one, the protest of tho Germ-in consul-

1

600Q ^^H

general.

THE EGTPTIAS ARMY.

79 J

It was Acoup de grace for Ismail. After- J
ward he was told that this action was in retaliation 1
by Bismarck, who desired in this way to reEent aa I
iuaulting remark which the Khedive had madel
about the German go nsnl -general. Ismail's bad]
temper had reallj lost him his throne.

The 2Gth of June, the firman of deposition ^
arrived, and the same night the cannon of the cita-
dol announced the accession of Mehemet Tewfik to
the throne.

The curtain fell upon Ismail — whose reign may I
be Ukencd to that of the Mameluke in its resnltA J
— to rise npon the iiiBurreetion of Arabi.

THE EGTFTTAN ARMT.

FoK a period of seventy years, FrancVlias been '
engaged in the military education of the fellah,
with the deplorable resalts which we have seen in
the campaign of 1882, and when both patriotism
and religion should have come to supplement the
want of the natural desideratam of the soldier ,
— courage.

THE THREE PROPHETS.

Tl

r The feUaha are not brave ; patient toHere of
t land, drawers of water, tliese adscriptt glehm
liave been in fact, tliough not in name, the slaves
who, under the laali of the tafik-master, have been
the inexhaustible niine from which the Pharaoh,
and the Mameluke as well, have drawn their wealth,
The fellah is neither Arab nor Egyptian : he is a
nondescript, a strange intermixture with the negro
and the Eervile class, of the conqueror and the con-
qnered, who have handed bim down from century
to centnrj, from Menes to Mohammed. Bound to
the glebe, he has always been treated ns a bondsman.
For hira patriotism is an nnmeaniiig sound, and only
his religion or his fanaticism, which he poesessee in
» maximum degree, are capable of inciting him
k deeds of violence.

p This was not an element ont of which to form
lirlf was the best that could be had.
in, scorning to submit himself to
yof the Government, roamed over hia
native desert free and nntrammeled. It is true
there was another element ont of which a magnifi-
cent army might Jiave been created — the warlike
Nium-Niam — and it was for this purpose that, in
1S75, I recruited six hundred of those people, and
incorporated them in the Soudanieh corps under

I

THE EGYPTIAN AEMY.

81

Gordon. Commanded by white men, it would hare
made an army that would have defended Tel-el-
Kebir, and have turned that Englieh promenade
against the fellah into a serious and difficult cam-
paign.

Among the distinguished engineers and doctors
of all profesaions whom Mehemet All invited to
come to Egypt to aid him in his work o£ conetrnc-
tion, was Colonel SSves, who, after Waterloo, rather
than serve the Bourbon, accepted the invitation of
Mehemet Ali, who committed to Lira the task of
creating an Egyptian army. In a few years Sfeves
had established all the necessary machinery to thia
end: foundries of cannon, powder-mills, arsenals,
and a military school at Abbasieh, over which pre-
sided the distinguished Larm^e Pacha, the last of
the French mission, who up to 1882 had done much
to perpetuate that which had been accomplished by
the lieutenants of Bonaparte. The fellah is ex-"
tremely fanatical ; his hatred of the Christian and'
the Erank is almost incredible. There has been no
diminution in this feeling, which long contact
and instruction by the European might be supposed
to have effected. It was as pronounced in the years
of my service there as in the days of Colonel S^ves,
I remember that I have complained to the Ministori

1

THE THREE PROPHETS.

of War — for it was oeolcea to vnako a complaint to
aa iutermediarj — of ths insoleoce of tbe soldiers
of a military post, before wliich I was obliged to
pass: the sentinel, and even tlie officer command-
ing, derisively laugliing, and assnming a sitting
postare when he ehonld have ealuted. Tbia was
trno of almost all these posts, and was of frequent
occurrence to other officers; notably to General
Mott, who had quite a scene with the Minister of

j War, to whom he had reported the ingolence of &

' sentry.

I It was told of General Seves tliat one day, when

exasperated by the insolent attitude of the troops,
who refused to move irLen commanded, he turned
his horse and galloped oS to the palace, where ho

, offered his sword to Mehemot Ali. The position

was critical, and the Pasha knew it. Tho complaint

, was that S^ves was a ChriBtian, and that Ifehemet

I loolted with an evil eye upon a Mussulman com-

I manded by an infideL

Mehemet All mounted his horec, and, preceded

I by a battery of artillery, said :

I " Come with me, S^ves ; we will see to this."

I The battery, the Paeha, and the colonel arrived

^^J^ore the troops.

^^^^■> Meliomet Ali cansod the battery to nnlimber

m^ ^u

I

THE EGYPTIAN" AP.MY. S3

sad eommandod, " Fire ! " The firat bLoI killed ten
men. " Close up the ranks," lie cried ; and another
shot recommenced the esecution, and again, nntil
six ehota in this manner had been delivered with
like effect. Mehemet Ali then ordered them to
retiim to their casernes.

When the night eanie lie esplainod to the horri-
fied S^vea that, though justice had been done, it
was neceesarj to do awaj with their religious pre-
text, and consequently he should change his re-
ligion. SSvea abjured his faith, and the morning
afterwai-d he called himself Solhnan Pasha.

From this day forward liis name has become a
legend in the East, and the Egyptian soldiers under
"Ibrahim" at Nezib — largely composed, it is neces-
sary to say, of Albanians — were called the " Tigers
of Soli I nan."

But there is a long way from Mehemet Ali to
Ismail.

In 18C9 the French mission was recalled to
Egypt, with the exception of Miui6 and Larrafe
Pasha, and several other officers loss distinguished.

It was succeeded in the commencement of 1870
|)y what was known as the Americem Mission, but
which was no mission at all, but merely
viduLil and separate engagement to enter the

an indi- ^^^J

THE THREE PROPHETS.

of the Khedive. The miBsioii was unfortunate a

f The consular representation wae then, and &p
|l Arabi, notorioufily bad, with the exception of
£lie brief service of Mr. Beardsley and later Mr,
Wolf, and had neither the dignity nor the influence
necessary to protect the officers agninst the intrigues
at conrt and the rivalries and jealousies of other
nations. It was due rather to accident than any-
thing else that, at the demand, flret of the German
consul-general and then of the English, we were
not summarily dismiBsed the service in 1872. As
it was, the mission bad but a feeble existence and
died from inanition.

Among the many very distingnislied officers
who entered the service, some of whom — gallant
men — have left their bones to bleach upon the
Bands of Lower Egypt and in the Soudan, there is
one, now living in this city, of whom a long inti-
macy and a strong affection permits me to make
special reference. He was, in reality, the only
officer who waa ever permitted by the fanatic
fellah to hold a command in Egypt, with the ex-
ception of Colonel Jenifer, who had a cavah-y com-
tod, bnt from which he was relieved, by reason
I the jealousy and animosity engendered. I refer

4

w

L

THE EGYPTIAN ARMY. 85 1

to General W, W. Loring, who has publiehed jnat
now an interesting aeconnt of liis Bervice in Egypt,
entitled " A Confederate Soldier in Egypt." Sam
commanded the Department of Alexandria, fromfl
1870 to 1876, including the coast defenses from I
Alexandria, Aboukir, to Rosetta — a separate com- F
mand, reporting directly to the Khedive, and \
known as " Loriag's Corps," General Loring ac-
cepted the post of chief of staff to Ratib Pasha
in the Abyssinian campaign, having with him a
euite of distinguished officers. He left Egypt in
1879 with many honors, and a name which, both in
civil and military circles, docs honor not only taJ
this gallant and warm-hearted soldier, bnt is tM
source of pride to those wlio served with him.

Apropos to the general-in-chief, Ratib Pasha, of 1
whom General Loring has given an amusing pict- J
nre. It was in the first year of my service ilkm
Egypt. I was ordered to duty to him as chief <
staff. Chief of staff to the general-in-cJiief 1 Wal-
lah I what an honor 1 Major Morgan, a gallant
American officer who had recently arrived, shared
with me the honor. We were quickly arrayed in
the glittering dress-uniform of that day. We were
dazzling to the eyes, with gold embroidery npon .i
every Beam. Our comrades came to look upon uKjl

^^■t THE THREE PROPIIETS. ^^|

in ill-concealed astonJEhment. Amid their friendly ^^H
felicitations we left to go to the headquarters, ^^H
where, up to that momeDt, we had never been. ^^|
We were well-nigh enfTocated with cnthnmsui, ^^|
Oar young Arab eteedfl, unaccustomed to the eight
of soldiery and the threatening appearance of the
troops, gave both of us — althongh Morgan was tlio
n^ plus -ultra of cavaliers — not a little trouble to
keep thera under us. We arrived at the head-
quarters finally, not without many a grimace from
tho sentinels. The general-in-cliief received na
with a coldness dilEcult to describe. He turned
over our nominations, evidently greatly emboiv
i-aesed, although elgned by the seal of Ismail him-
Bclf. Finally I ventnrcd to ask him if it was the
generalhaimo to whom I had tlio honor to report.
After a long pause, he said : " It is true that I am
the gene ral-in -chief, but I have no headqnartera,
nor yet a staff. If I should have want of yon later,
gentlemen, I will write to you." Wo went back
to our quarters with the stiffening somewhat taken
from onr necks, and fearing to meet in tho place
of felicitation the ridicule of our comrades. It is
needless to add that we never received the promised

l^^^^ttcr, but I often met tho general at the theatre.

^^Hftt the theatre he was a very amiable pcrsonaga

The deplorable weaknege and helplessness of
Tewfik gave a renewed life to the 60-ealled Na-
tional party; the jealousies and intrigues, in many
cases, of the representatives of tho powers adding
greatly thereto.

The fellah had but little, if any, interest in this
local movement in Cairo. The condominium of
England and France had secured to bim^

1. The suppression of onerous and vexatious
taxes ; and tho tax-gatherer himself was placed un-
der an organized central iuspection.

2. The abolition of the corvee, or forced labor.

3. The adoption of a fixed and equitable term
of military service, to replace the perpetual service
to which, nntil now, ho had been condemned, and
from which he could purchase exemption only by
an excessive backsheesh. Tor the first time in all
his miserable existence he Lad been made a freed-
man. Pulverized by taxes, under the lash of the
courbakthy he Lad beea Landed down from century
to century, from one master more relentless than
the other, until he had become what he was be-

THE THREE PEOPHETS.

fore the condomininm, a mere chattel attaclicd
the glebe.

The cry of " Egypt for the Egyptians " for him
was a snare and a delusion, and had the " National
party" succeeded in placing Egypt nnder the su-
preme control of Egyptians, it is a very great gnes-
tion whether the condition of the fellah would
have been improved thereby. The plebeian j^eZZoA
beys were merely playing the Mameluke. They
aimed at the creation of a vast military power in
the name of Mehemet, which was to found anew a
panislamism, which it was foretold at the end of
of the century would assume universal power.

The insurrection of Arabi had two well-defined
pliases — the first patriotic, the second prophetic.
The burlesque defense of Tel-el-Kebir was a proof
that Arabi and his followers were a veiy poor set
of patriots, and the odious massacres at Alexandria
and Tantah, that he was a very bad and impolitic
prophet,

Mr. Gladstone said about this time : " It is a
state of military violence aggravated by cruel and
wanton crime," and that "within the circuit of as-
sociations finch as these freedom could not grow " ;
and adding, that there had been periods in whieh
it had been chaiitably belieTed in England that

I to^H

4

i

ABABt. 89

the military party was the popular party, and was
straggling for the liberties of Egypt. " There ia
not," said he, *'the smallest rag or shred of evi-
dence to support that contention."

A color of nationalism had been given to the
movement by Baron de King, the consul-general
of France, who, following the sympathies of his
constituents and of the Italian and 6reek colonies l
in Cairo, gave a certain adhesion to this cry of
"Egypt for the Egyptians," it mnst bo admitted;
not that the French believed that an Egypt for the
Egyptians was possible, but to oppose in common
with the native element the reform of the English,
"which meant their discharge from the administra-
tion. This was not all: it was firmly believed in
Cairo that Arabi was in reality the paid agent of
Ismail, or, more likely still, of Halira, and Arabi
was thus looked upon as a sort of interrtgnum.
Arabi, flattered by the notice of Baron de King,
went to the French consulate one day, and, throw-
ing his sword at the feet of the consul-general,
said : " We have confidence in France. Order, and
you shall be obeyed."

M. de Eligniferes was then the French Control-
ler-General of Finance, and rumor said that he J
was completely under the influence of Mr. Malet, I

TOE THREE PROPHETS.

tiie Englifih consnl-generaL Betweea the former,
therefore, and the French consul-genaral was per-
petual conflict — a houee dtvidcii against iteelf. To
this unfortunate rivalry a part of the evils which
followed may be traced, for it is nndoubted that
tho Baron de Ring may have controlled the move-
ment of Arabi within its patriotic limits, and pre-
vented him from becoming later the blind agent
of the religions party. M. de Bli^i^res'a Anglo-
philiam at Cairo was well known. The Germano-
philism of a French chancellor, as avowed the other
day on a eteamer of the Transatlantic line, is an-
other illustration of a positive disloyalty which has
been permitted to gi-ow at the Ministry of Foreign
Affaire under the Republic, and which has ren-
dered possible both a de Blignieres and a Poitevin.
Let ua refer briefly to some of the scenes and aetora
in what was a seeming comedy, bnt which was des-
tined to end in a horrible tragedy.

Who was Arabi? It is not easy to establish
positively either the age or birthplace of tlua fellah.
Nor, indeed, is it necessary. It is not likely that a
monument will be raised to him in the province of
Charkieh, in Lower Egypt. ^VTiore horn of feSlah
parents, be first saw the light of day approxiinative-
ly about fifty years ago. Arabi is a tall, big, strong.

heavy-looking fellali, ■wears Lis fez tlirown baoir
npon Ilia head, and when not conversing keeps liis
eyes closed, opening them at intervals with whites
nptnrned, producing a vajrj ngly and disagreeable
impression of hypocrisy and fanaticism. His color
is the dirty yellow common to the fellah of Lower
Eg)"pt. His head is rather pointed, with large
mouth and thick lips, which move incessantly in
mumbbng the verses of the Koran, while his fingers
are running over In ceaseless count the chaplet
■which he holds in the right hand.

lie was in the army when Said Pasha was on
the throne, and one among the eccentric acts of
this moat eccentric of men, whose attention to
hie army was almost a mania, was that in a fit of
passion with Arabi, at some slight irregnhirity, ho j
caused him to be bastinadoed and dismissed the |
army.

Arabi concealed hia chagrin by consecrating '
himself to the fanatical studies of the religious
university of El-Azhar.

"When Ismail ascended the throne, Arabi re-
entered tlie army, and shortly afterward married
tliB daughter of a nurse of El Hami Pasha, the son
of Abbas. In the Abyssinian campaign, Arabi,
then a lieutenant-colone!, was in charge of a cinar-

92 TEE THREE PROPHETS.

termaster's train, where, as General Lotiag bae eaid,
he did not snceeed very well.

It wae after his return from this expedition that
Arabi made the acquaintance of Ali Bey Kouby,
whom report saya waa the agent of certain European
bankers in Cairo who desired a erisis in order to
profit by a change of government, Ali Bey, who
afterward became one of Arahi'e most intimate coun-
sellore, organized, in 1876, a secret aoeiety among the
feUak officers, and the sympathy created for Arabi
among the Liberal European element was brought
about by the intimate relationship which exietei
between these officers and the Masonic lodge
Cairo.

It was at this time that Arabi might be hi
to say to Europeans :

lught
^ifiteii^l

1

same I

We are all brothers, and spring from the
parents, Adam and Eve. God is the architect of the
universe. Man is the king of creation. The peacock
of vanity will never fly over my head.

Ismail Khedive called him tlie "eloquent bab-
bler," and more than once threatened him with the
Soudan, the terror of all Egyptians,

Tewfik, on succeeding to the throne, promoted
Arabi to tlie rank of colonel. This was considered

as the measure of Ma ambition, bnt the vanity and
tlie ambition of the man were not to be bo appeased.

On the 17th of JamiaTj, 1881, Arabi and his
colonels assembled at Abdin and there made a.pro-
ihun.eiain.wnto in which the fellah officers protested
against the preference and privileges accorded to
the Circassian, Turkish, and foreign officei's in the
service. Riaz Pasha, after expostulation, caused
Arabi, Abdelal, and Aii Fehmy to be arrested and
brought to trial by court-martial. They were, how-
ever, immediately released by tlie soldiers of the
regiment of Ali Fehray, who broke into the council
chamber and carried back the three colonels in
triumph to their barracks. The Minister of "War,
tlie Circassian Osman Kifki, waa obliged to re-
sign, and was succeeded by Makmavd Sami El
Baroudi.

About this time, between the ministry and the
foreign representatives, there arose a qnestion of
the budget. It will be remembered that the Cham-
ber of Notables had been chosen under the pressure
of the revolution. It is needless to add, the candi-
dates selected by them were chosen after their own
hearts. Sultan Pasha had been designated by the
Government as president of the chamber. Sultan
was of Sedouin origin ; as their grand cheikh he

i

Di THE THREE PROPHETS.

was an element which acted, to a certain extent,
a balance of power. But for Sultan Pasha and his
secret disdain for these feUah officers, there is
but little doubt tliat Arab!, or Mahmoud Sami
rather, would have dethroned Ten'fik, and assumed
the reina of government.

When the budget had been awarded to the dif-
ferent ministers, and notably the enormous sum of
fourteen miilions of franca for the Ministry of War,
Mahmoud Sami claimed his right to dispose of this
sum without submitting the expenditure to the con-
trol. The controllers refused, and referred the
question to the powers from which they derived
their authority. Their answer was an affirmation of
that authority, and a recommendation to the col-
onels to respect the tranquillity of the country. On
coming to power they had expressly declared that
they would respect this financial control, and recog-
nized its difiinterested efficacy. A taste of power,
however, now converted it into one of the griefs of
the National party. They said : " How is it sn
Egyptian Chamber has not the right to vote an
Egyptian budget? The French Chamber, does
not vote the French budget!"

Mahmoud Sami, the Minister of War, subi
qncntly became the President of the Council

, as !

AEABI. 95

Minietera. He was samamed in Arabic El Baroudi
(powder), for the reB.son that liia father had been
engaged in the clandestine commerce of powder.
From the military school at Abbasieh he passed as
lieutenant of the garde, and married a slave given
him by Ismail Pasha. This insures always certain
protection and advancement, bnt it does not always
bring domestic happiness. Barondi shortly after-
ward Burprised his aponse in flagrante delictu with
a servant ; and he is said to have cut the throat of
the seductive Aldii, and thrown hia body from a
window into the eanal. This act may be taken aa
proof of Ms resolute character. Mahmoud Sami
has been considered the life of the insurrection, and
guided it from the commencement to its close.
Under him the colonels were made generals ; lieu-
tenant-colonels, colonels ; and so on down to the
common soldier, who inversely commanded hia ser-
geant, back to Arabi, who commanded and threat-
ened with death the unhappy Tewfik.

In the month of September, 1881, the insurree- I
tion had become chronic. Another prommcia- J
mienio was made at Abdin. This time their pre-
tensions were more exacting, Arabi demanded that !
a constitution should be given them, and that the
army ahould be raised to an effective of eighteen

96 THE THREE PROPHETS.

thonsand ; adding, in reply to the Ebedive who bad
advanced to ask them what they wanted, '■ .Accord
D6 OUT demands or we have jour saccessor in readi-
ness." Who waa this eueceBBorl Was it Ismail
or was it Halim ! Briefly, Tewfik acceded to their
demandg. Cherif was called to replace Riaz, and
in the month of February, 1S82, Cherif, who h^
in vain endeavored to give intelligent direction to
the cabinet, abandoned the task. He was succeeded
as president of the council by Hahmoud 8i
and Arabi was made Minister of War. He
DO longer Arabi Bey, but Arabi Paslia, and,
the other colonels, had been promoted to the pashar
lik in common with Abdelal, Ali Fehmy, and
Toulba. These patriots were taking care of them-
selves at the expense of the nation. They had
already created a very great increase of the
budget, by reckless promotion, and by the cons
tntioD of a new military regulation, which proi
ised a happy refuge for the pensioned after a
merely nominal and insufficient service. A journal
at that time, in order to illnatrate the ways'of the.

nietry, supposed the case of a claimant ft
advancement :

"Do you not remember that it was I who puUef
BiTers Wilson's beard three years ago ? " " Ah, it i

eded I

iam^^^H

widi^H||

AEABI.

97 I

trne," replied Arabi. "Ton pulled Wilson's beard ;
tiib, 70a shall be made a major."

"Tou exclude me from advancement, bat I am
the one who was the first to enter the palace of Ab-
din, in February," " Pardon, I had forgotten ; you
ahall be a colonel."

" How ia this you leave me without promotion ?
deserted my post when I waa on guard at the miniatry '
of war, when you should have been tried by the
court-martial, and when your troops delivered you."
"You are right. For this service you deserve to be
named a general."

There is but little exaggeration in this. Since
the commencement of January, 1882, having re-
signed my commission in the Egyptian army at
the end of 1877, on account of fevers contracted
in Central Africa, I had returned to Cairo for the
purpose of practicing law before the international
tribunals. I went one day to Arab! to ask the pro-
motion of a yoong officer, Lieutenant Hassan Was-
6if, who had accompanied Gordon and myaelf to
the Soudan, and who had subsequently gone with
me as aide on the Juba River expedition. Arabi
promised to promote him for his long and excellent
Bervice to the rank of captain, but never did. It 1
was enough that Hassan had served with a hated I
nosorani (Christian).

Among those associated with Arabi in the rain-

98 TIIE THBEE PEOPHETS.

ifltry, or -who were bis conGtaDt companions
counsellore, were the following :

Mahmoud Fehmy
was tie mimster of public works, and after Mah-
moud Sami the most capable of the Arabi min-
istry. This waB not saying much for him. "WTiea.,
I served in Loring'a corps, duty frequently thi
me in contact with Mahmoad, who was then a h
hachi (major) of artillery, and attached as inBpector
to the coast defense. Tie is by hirth half fetlah
and half negro — the latter half being by far the bet-
ter part of him. He was fanatical and hated the
noaorani, but in this be differed bnt little from his
oompanioDB.

Toulha.

Toulba Pasha, who had been from nothing at s
created a colonel and then a pasha by Arabi, t
as ignorant as Arabi ; arrogant, be had a shade moiHifl
of vanity — tbe inherent quality of the negro ae well
as the fellah — than either Arab! or the rest of the
ministers. Arabi was reproached one day by one
of his friends upon the importance which be gavtta
to Toulba. He replied :

" Toulba belongs to my family. [He had ta.ar- '
ried a relative of Arabi.] I can't spit upon my dioe."

AEABL

Abdelal.
Abdelal Pasha commanded the regiment of ne-
groea at Tourah and afterward at Damietta. Igno-
rant and bratal, he was looked upon by his colleaguea
as the fighting member of the council. He boasted
continually of putting his regiment on shipboard
and making an attack open Liverpool.

Ali Fekmy.

The third colonel was an abject creatnre ; illit- ]
erate, and above all timid and cowardly. Nervona ]
excitement and fear drove him to the mad-house.

Miiatapha Paaha Fekmy.
was a former colonel of the guard, whose fortune
Ismail Pasha Khedive had made. Mustapha, how-
ever, considered that whatever he owed to Ismail had
been amply repaid by his service of putting out of
the way at the bidding of Ismail, as already related,
the poor fellah minister of finance, Ismail Sadyb.

He might justly claim, then, in the rebel minis- I
try, that he had not joined the great army of the 1
ungrateful against Ismail — he had purchased the 1
right to do as he pleased.

Notwithstanding this, Muetapha was ill at ease, ]

TUE THREE PROPHETS.

1

|„

^^^Puivo of absutice and went to France, where he
remained niitil Nubar retnmed. It ia a signifi-
cant fact that ho is now a ininieter in the Nabar
ministry at Cairo. The reader will bear in mind
that it is of Egypt wc speak ; it is the land of
the improbable.

In the mean tinio the prcBB everywhere bad
written np these men as patriots.

Correepondents were sent ont by every steamer,
and the Arabi ministry bad little else to do except
to be interviewed. It flattered the vanity of Arabi,
it made the fortune of the jonmal, and, besides, it
was a part of the VittU game cunningly devised by
those interested in Arabi's fiucceaa.

One of the correspondents of a well-knowB
jonma! in Paris had made himself known by his
nitra Arabiphilism. Arabi invited him to review
his troops. Bat whilst the yonng Parisian jour-
nalist was enjoying with great delight his new-
found honors, he received a note from H. Sirai*
kewitch, the French eonsnl-gcneral, which ran thna :

CiiEO, Man ''■'^
Deab SiE : I am told that you aro visiting at this 1
lent the barracks. Under other circnmstancos ]
this would be natural. To-day your visit will have

Br

AEABL 101

the effect of enconragement by a French subject to I
the Egyptian anny in rebellion against ita sover-
eign.

I will be then very much obliged to you if yon I
will desist from a military inspection, which places
me in a false position with His Highness and does
violence to the policy of our country.

Accept, dear sir, assurances of my distinguished
consideration. Sienee witch.

The fact is tliat B., the journalist in qnestiooj
a veiy tine gentleman, Iiad been promised, it was 1
said, the grade of colonel by Arabi.

Arab! Pasha had now become the arbiter of the
destinies of Egypt. If there were European gov-
ernments who desired to profit by the disorder
which reigned supreme, there were private indi-
viduals who succeeded in blinding the rebel dicta-
tor as to the dangers which he was unconsciously
inviting. Between these and the ambidous of hia
own class there was no retreat. Egypt marched
towards aa abyss, led by invisible threads, with-
out a voice being raised to warn her of the dan- 1
ger.

The illustrioua president of the Suez Canal had 1
been promised by Arabi the concession of a Bweet- I
water canal and adjacent rcdaimable lands runoin^ 1
from ^msolia to Port 8aid. This circomstanoe I

102

THE THREE PROPIIETS.

contributed without a doubt to ioepire M. de Les-
eepa with confidence in thia aoi-disant National
pftrtj.

Mr. "Wolf was the United States consnl-genenJ
in Cairo. He gave a banqnet the 22il of February,
1882, iofete the anniversary of Washington's birth-
day. Arabi, Uahnioud Sami, and others of the
rebel ministry were invited. The conenls-general
of France, England, and others excneed themselves.
To Eay the least, it was a delicate nndertaking, and,
in tlie face of the insolent and rebellions attitude
of the ministry toward the sovereign to whom the
consul general was accredited, the presence of
quasi-rebellioue tainistry might have been coi
eidered as highly nndiplomatic. My advice having
been asked, 1 gave it most emphatically in this
sense.

At the banquet Mahmond Sami, in a fine dis-
play of Arab oratory, disconrsed much abont "Egypt
for Egyptians," and the names of Boioagah (Mr.)
Washington, Lafayette, and Garibaldi were fre-
quently invoked. Arabi, with head thrown back
in a poatnre of profound meditation, opened now
and again his eyes, and closed them with a saint-
like snap. But the "eloquent babbler" on this
oocasion waB mute, and eaiA not a word.

LesBeps followed Mahtnoad, and eaid :

I arise in tho midst of this eyinpathetic asscin-
biage not only to thank you for the kind words
vhicfa have been pronounced upon my works at Suez
and at Panama, but as the mentor of this assembly,
for no one here was bom when I came to Egypt for
the first time, fifty years ago, as representative of
France.

We celebrate the birth of liberty of a people in
this anniversary of the greatest citizen of the United
States. Permit me to establish a parallel between
the old Egypt and the young American Union. Since
thousands of years Egypt, which had the first given
to the world ezamples of science and civilization, has
been the last to proclaim the principle of liberty,
bent as she has always been under the most absolute

I

The country of Washington, whose emancipation
dates back scarcely a century, was sommenced by
liberty, and has surpassed the prosperity of all the
conniries of the globe. I can say that I have been
all my life a friend of liberties and of nationalities,
and after twenty-seven years of a diplomatic career,
I have retired to private life as an ambassador of
France, because I would not consent to participate
in an attempt against the liberties of a people. It
was then that Egypt opened to me her arms, and I
could with the benevolent SaKd, sou of Mehemet
Ali, undertake the humane work of tho Suez Canal.
Thanks to this concession [De Lessepa here looked
amiably at Banadi and Arabi], Egypt baa been the j

F

r fi"

t04 THE THREE PBOPHETS.

first that has consecr&ted the freedom of a passagS'
whioh ehe ba^ assimilated to that of the seas.

This freedom has been practiced, since the open-
ing of the canal, by all nations, who have respected
its neutrality in time of peace as in time of war, and
last year more than one hundred thonsand men of
all nrmg, and belonging to all nations, have freely
passed the canal from one side to the other withoat
any inconvenience.

It will be the same for the Panama Canal vben it
shall be opened six years hence. There will then reign,
between all peoples, peace and universal fraternity.

lage^H

I drink to the Egyptian Parliament, and to the
I members of the government, who, under the tatelar

^^^^pnthority of the Khedive, will prove themselves ^^^
^^KnTtby of liberty. ^^H

^^^H This public consecration of bis patHotic conrafi^^^H
' bj the illustrious president of the canal had thg^^^H

I effect of augmenting the folly of Arab!. ^^^|

I He was now to enter upon the second phase of

the insurrection, and henceforth be was in obedience
to a word of order from El-Azhar (!) to play the ^^j
Wt^ of prophet. ^^H

V- Walking one day in the streets of Cairo, accon»<-^^^|
panied by a long train of foUowers, he suddenly
stopped, and, assuming a beatific air, said, wilh np-
tumed face and stamping upon the ground with his ^^^
K>t, "Uere is the gun sent mo from heaven I" ^^H

ARAB! 105 J

The attendants quickly upturned the ground,
and tbere, in fact, was a gun, bnt on the lock-plate 1
one miglit clearly read the name of the American '
inventor, " ^Remington."

The morning of the 4th of April Alexandria
and Cairo were thrown into great commotion. The
eteamer "Arabia" waa reported to have arrived at
Alexandria, having on board Ismail, who had re-
turned to take control. It proved to be hia second
wife, the princess mother of Ibrahim and one of the
several step-mothers of Tewfik. HI, she demanded
to return from exile at Naples, Ismail had already
sent to Tewfik the following dispatch:

Naples, AprU Id.
The princess, yonr mother, is very sick. Returns
to Egypt with several persons of her suite, who do
not wish to remain longer at Naples. They are Mus-
ealman subjects and tbere is no motive for their exile. .
I beg you to receive them well. IguAn

Omar Pafiha Loutfi, with an
the Arabia on her arrival, and insisted that the prin-
cess should receive several doctors whom Tewfik
had ordered to find out if the princess was indeed
ilL The princess refused to receive them and sent
in reply to Tewfik a dispatch aa follows :

106 THE THEEE PROPHETS.

Mr Sosr : I have arrived at Alexandria, ill ; tha
Governor has come oa board with a oommiasion of'
doctors to determine my sicknesa. Such a thing has
given me a painful impresaion. I am your mother.
I am a Mnseulman woman. I can not submit to Btieh
a humiliation. I beg yon to give orders, then, tbat I
may descend and be treated on land by the doctor. I
appeal in the name of God and our Prophet to your
heart and justice.

The Khedive replied :

If I insiBt, princess, that yon shall receive the
throe doctors that I have sent you under the charge
of Omar Pasha Loutfi, it is because I am greatly
interefitcd in your health.

The princess thcrctipon sent another dispatch to I
Tewfik;

Mr DSAB SoK : I have received your dispatch. 1
have been very sensible of the interest which you take
in the state of my health. I should have hastened to
satisfy your desire if that medical visit, in the cir-
cumstances in which I find myself, were not incom-
patible with my situation as a Mussulman woman, and
at the same time a humiliation which I pray you to
have me avoid. "When you shall have permitted me
to land, I will receive the visit of the doctors which
yoti have had the kindness to send me, I renew my
appeal, as your mother and as a Mussulman, to your
heart aud to your justice. In the name of God and
the Prophet.

i

I

I

ARABI. lOr 1

To thia letter Tewfik did not reply. The 6tli
of April the " Moniteur Egyptien," to the Burprisa
of every one, published the following :

To (he Director of the Press:

Upon the occ&eion of the amTnl at Alexandria
of one of the princess wivea of tlis Highness the
Khedive lemail Pasha, an interested puhUo has circu-
lated the report that the Minister of War and the
officers of the army w^ere favorable to the coming and
the sojoarn of that person in Egypt.

These reports have taken such form that certain
persons have considered them well founded. I think
it opportune to oppose these rumors by a formal de-
nial in my own name, the name of the officers aud
the soldiers of the Egyptian army.

The army generally, in accord with the people, is
opposed to the return to Egypt of any person, with-
out distinction, without regard to rank or sex, who
comes from the ex-Khedive Ismail, because the na-
tion and the armyare convinced in advance of the
evils which will result to the country.

I invite you to give this letter the greatest pub-
licity, in order that the truth may be known, and ia i
Older to put a stop to false reports.

The Minister of War,

Ahmed Arau t,

The Europeans were amazed at this cxhibitioal
of stnpidity on the part of Arabi.

The 8th of April the "Arabia," under the sup*

^

h

^

THE THREE PEOPliETS.

ince of the police and nnalilo to commimicate

the land, notwitltEt&nding the protestations c

Italian consul-general, returned to Naples. i

The step-mother of Tewfik had in the palace of '

Kliedipe a mortal enemy — her rival, the mother

of Tewfik, the first wife of Ismail, whom he bad

taken as a slave and raised later to the rank of

The princess nursed a savage hatred against the
second wife of Ismail, who had refused to recognize
her as an equal, and she dictated to her son the
measure which now became the suhject of conver-
sation in Cairo and Alexandria.

The letter written by Arabi found, of course,
great favor with the priuccss. She sent to him s
ring set with precious stones, and a watch and
chain, as an evidence of her appreciation of the act
of hostility against Ismail and her enemy.

Ai'abi during this time continued to play the
rdl^ assigned him. He openly declared that Mo-
hammed had appeared to him in a dream and an-
nounced that he was the Sublime. The govern-
ment was in reality transferred from the palace of
Abdin to the humble bonse of the rebel colonel.
lie was the rising sun, and the flatterers and timd-
servora, the necessary appanage of every conrt,

AR4BI.

lOfl

L lace heai

abandoned Prince TewSk, and went to pay th<
court to the fellah. Arabi would freijuentlj etij^
all business, take off his shoes, and go to prayers
before the aasembled crowd. This was one method
of publishing his piety to the public, and at the
aaiue time was a ahield against their importnnitiea.
"When he went out, it was a procession more like
a fnneral to the populace throngh which it
moved, who looked on witli pity at the timid and
trembling ofBcers who composed his eaeort. It is a
fact that they were in constant dread of poison and
aaaaaBination, either by the Circassians or the Euro-
peans. It was comical as well as serious. Alt
Fasba Sadyk, one of Arabi's ministers, under thisr
neryoua strain finally went raving mad. He cried
out that Arabi was holding a poniard at his
throat. He was removed to the hospital for the
insane, from which a short time thereafter he went
ont recovered, but took good care not to go back to
reclaim his portfolio in the ministry.

On the 9th of April the famous conspiracy (^>
the Circassian officers to kill Arabi was invented^
The 18th of April thirteen officers were an-este4'
and dragged in the most brutal manner, the popB>,'
lace heaping every insult upon them, before a com*-
martiah They were condemned to exile. Otlieitf

4

I wen
I absti

THE THREE PBOPHETa.

'^

were arrested in the Bame manner upon the most
absurd charges. There waa no doubt that it was an
organized plan to get rid of every other clement in
the armj except the fellah. The Khedive did not
know what to do. He appealed to the Snitan, and
finally to the consuls, who advised him to commnte
the sentences pronounced by the court-martial,
lie acted in accordance with this connseL Subse-
quently, on the 10th of May, all the members of
the Arabi ministry went to the palace and insolently
demanded of Tewfib that he recall tlie commutation
of the sentences against the Circassians, Tewfik,
after further consnltation, flatly refused. The min-
istry retired, not before telling the Khedive
that tbey considered themselves insnltcd. Mah-
moud SamI, in consequence of this act, informed
the consuls of France and England that if he con-
tinued to be responsible for the property and live* j
of foreigners in Egypt, he conld not extend that I
guaranty to the person of the Khedive.

The council of ministers decided to convoke the I
notables, and did so by telegraph, and without |
deigning to inform the Khedive, with whom alone ]
this right rested.

The 25th of May the consuls of France and J
[land sent an ultimatum to the President of the 1

ARABI. HI J

Council, demandiag the diBmissal of the miaistry,
the sending away of Abdelal and AH Fehmy, and 1
the exile of Arabi. The miniatry resigned, but |
Arabi Bignified bis intention of remaining at the J
head of the army, and proclaimed himself " Chief
of the National party,"

On the 27th of May Tewfik convoked at the
palace of lemailia the notables and military com-
mandantB. It was in this reunion that Toulba I
threateningly placed his hand upon bis sword, and,
interrupting Tewfik, eaid that the army would not
listen to the note of the powera, and recognized
no other authority but that of the Sultan. "Where-
upon he abruptly retired, followed by the military,
who everywhere, as if afraid of their shadowB, were
accompanied by a nondescript mob.

In the afternoon of that day the principal ]
cheikhs- el -Islam, the Ulemas, Greek Patriarch, '
and tlie Jewish Grand Rabbi, presented them- !
selves before the Viceroy, and begged him to return
Arabi to the Ministry of War. The Khedivo re-
fused. But they continued to supplicate, and said
that their lives were in danger, for Arabi Itad men- J
aced them with death if they did not procure I
reinstallmcat. The colonel of the garde stated " that J
the sentinels at the palace had been doubled, and I

THE THREE PROPHETS.

that orders bad been givca to prevent the Kbo-

AlYe from quittiug it to go to the promenade of

Btoabrah, and that he was virtually a prisoner.

lat the; had orders to fire upon him if he atr

tnpted to go ont."

Tewtik, under this presaore, consented that'
rabi shonld be renominated Minieter of War.
It appears that on the preceding evening Anbi,
rith sword in hand, and followed hj one hun-
dred officers, went to the house of Sultan Fasha,
President of the Chamber of Notables, and de-
manded tlie depoeitioQ of Tewtik, menacing with
»th those who refused to comply. Receiving no^
>onse to this, be insisted that within the next;
"twelve hours he Bhonld be reinstated as Minister-
of "War.

"We have seen in what manner Arabi was reap-,
pointed. Tho Minister of War was now the alpha'
and the otnega of his ministry ; he was alone.

It was a sinister augury of the catastrophe abonti
to take place.

Ismail Pasha, in exile at Naples, ia reported at
i time as liaving eaid to a correspondent of 8'
irnal: "Tou are going to Egypt. Remember
Tho Oriental is nothing but an infant in mat-
s of civilization. In the £ast the point of depart*

4

AEABI.

11? I

ure is fanaticiBm. Now, do not forget this ob com- j
ing from a Hu^ulman. Lefanatisme est comme le *
mal, il 716 iarrHe ^aa— -fanatieiem is like disease,
it does not stop of itself." Who will say that this
was not prophetic % Ismail nnderstood his people.
The pretense of a National party he knew con-
cealed, only fanaticism and hatred of the Chris-
tian.

The policy of laisser faive, which dominated the I
ministryofFreycinet, by whom was it inspired? "Was I
it by those who awaited the concessions promised by J
ArabiJ It is ridiculous, as urged by some, that France i
feared a complication with Germany. The excellence
of her army, and above all the superiority in artillery
and cavalry, as attested by German critics — the utter
disorganization of the former being the cause of her
defeat in 1S70 — is sufficient to have given a denial
to this. The action of H. de Lcsseps at Port Said |
ia protesting against the landing of French troops I
together with what has been already said upon this
subject, would seem to show a fixed resolution on
his part to favor Arabi. The private interests of
the Grand Francis were superior to his patriotism.
How different to that Frenchman whose greatest
glory was his immense love of country ! Gambetta, |
in the Chamber of Deputies, on the 1st of June

THE THEEE PROPHETS.

reply to the remark made by M. Preycinet, " that
never will the government accept a military istei^
vention in Egypt 1 " said :

Messiours : When I hear it said that, not content
with having abandoned the ipecial and ezcluBive
poBition that tradition and firmans gave to France
and England in Egypt; that, not content with hand-
ing over to an European concert, that is to say, to the
adveraariea of the policy of an Anglo-French concert,
the judgment and the adjustment of a difference which
is not to dismember the Ottoman Empire, but to
defend the status quo eEtablished hy the treaties.
When I hear that, not content with abandoning that
position, and to get out of these difficulties where, with
a little firmness and withont going to war — for there
are other means in the resources of a great conntry
in order to get ont of difficulties — in the midst of
which has been maintained a situation which, never
mind what may be said, a situation which hafl never
been abandoned, no more under the empire than un-
der the monarchy, in the Egyptian question since
eighty years. When T hear an absolute resolution
affirmed in advance, that, never mind what the circum-
stances were, France would never interpose her mili-
tary arm, I recall to myself the day when Berryer
ascended that tribune in just such a circumstance, and
uttered a word which I borrow from the greatest
eloquence which has ever been beard within these
He said; "Do not speak thus ; do not talk in

it way of France."

4

The attitude of the French chamber prodoced
consternation among its people in Egypt.

I returned to Cairn about this time, coming
from Louksor, where I had gone several weeks
before, having found the practice of the law in the
courts of Caii-o imjieded by the already strained
relations of the Arabic element toward all foreign-
era. My friend il. Lamothe, editor of " Le Temps "
of Paris, accompanied me. He was an ardent ad-
mirer of the policy of laisscr faire — a policy of
which subsequent events, he has avowed to me, have
shown him the fallacy. We had tarried in Louksor
until the heat had become insupportable, although I
considered myself in this respect almost fire-proof.
I took occasion to sound the natives with reference
to Arabi. They knew nothing of him as the chief
of a National party. He liad artfully made it ap-
pear that he had sent Ismail away. Everj^where the
name of Ismail being received with that gesture of
supreme contempt which cbaracterizea the hatred
of the fellah — namely, violently spitting upon the
ground, followed with the expression Tcanziah ! (pig)
hissed between his closed lips. Arabi was called
Pasha hetani (our Pasha), and whose mission, half
human, half divine, was to give them the land and
goods of the Christian and clear them of their in-

THE THREE PROPHETS.

The fellah had already in maoy ia-
stances, to my knowledge, commenced to operate
upon the Greekfl and Syriana located in the valley,
and to whom, as money-lenders, these fellahs were
largely indebted. They had attacked them at night
with naioots (aticks), beaten them, and taken their
money. On one occasion I asked them, " Do you
think Arabi is a prophet of God J" They said,
" Imkin t " (perhaps eo),

Eetnrning down the Nile, I met a levy of
emits destined for the army, which Arabi was
crcafiing.

Among them were several old soldiers who had
served onder me on the east coast of Africa, They
asked me secretly what Arabi was doing, and
seemed much astoni^ed when told that he intend-
ed to fight against the Europeans.

Arriving in Cairo abont nine o'clock at night
of the 31st of May, accompanied by my Arab aei^
vant All, I walked from the station at Ghozireh
across the river into the city, over which a myste-
rions and ominous silence seemed to hang like a
fnneral pall. Not a soul was in the streets, asaally
crowded with people ; for at this season, more than
any other, the air is £lled with music, and night is
tnnied into day. I had great difficulty in getting

m

L_

ASABL 117

admittance into my hoteL The proprietor and his
wife told me, with every evidence of fear, that
threats had been made of massacring the Christianfl,
and that many bad already adopted whatever
means of defense could be devised.

On going into a cafe near by which was open,
I met a mimber of frienda who were discaBMng
the measores which should be taken for defense.
They proposed to give me the command of volun-
teers.

The Khedive was then virtually a prisoner at
tlie palace of Abdin. The next day an officer at-
tached to the person of the Khedive came to me
and asked if I could in an emergency raise a vol-
oiiieer troop to go to Tewfik'a aid, and, if bo, how
many? It was understood that in case of need
five hundred might be collected.

Arabi, who was threatening in his attitude, had
caused petitiona to be circulated demanding the
deposition of Tewfik. Every day, in the afternoon,
the panic-stricken populate were treated to the
spectacle of the dictator promenading, followed in
carriages by a number of officers in uniform.

The truth is that these fellah officers were
much more alarmed than the populace, and the
eollapse of Mastapha Fehmy and Ali Sadyk, who

118 THE THREE PBOPnETS

were dominated by fear, affected more tlian t
tlieir diatinguisLed collengues.

They were not alone, for it is related of Arabi
liimself that, during tlie bombardment, a ebell,
among the several wliich skipped into the city,
fell near the KoBetta Gate where he remained
dnring the bombardoient, and, biireting, killed two
Boldierfi. An officer suggested to Arabi that they
fihonld order the batteries of Fort Napoleon to
open. " Oh, no ! " cried he, " don't do that ; if yon
do, it will draw the fire of the Inglisee upon ns."

The Sultan had decided to intervene. He sent
Dervieh Paeha as a commissioner. Hib arrival, the
8th of June, gave a ray of hope to the European
population, justly affrighted at the menacing atti-
tude of the fanatical populace. It needed but the
slightest shock to pnt in movement the massacre
which for days had formed a part of the prayers of
the faithful in the mosques. It was becoming diffi-
cult for Arabi to hold in chock his people
the appointed time.

Dervish was a MucAir or Marshal of the Ott
Empire, He had commanded at Montenegro and at
Batoum in 1876 and 1877. He was seventy jeara
of age, tall, and solemn-looking. He spoke i
Turkish, and was accompanied by his son andtJ

AEABT. 119

interpretora, one speaking Ambic and the other
French.

At the same moment, Arabi had telegraphed to
his agent at Constantinople, demanding to know
the Bignification of the arrival of Dervish. He re-
ceived the following reply :

The Sultan seoda you Dervish Paeha. Don't
trouble yourself.

Dervish was received with all the honors due
the Sultanate. The entire population, native and
foreign, were gathered along the line of soldiers,
through whose opened ranks the cortege passed fi-om
the station to the palace. Mixing with the crowd,
to my astonishment I witnessed a scene impossible
to describe. In the commisBioner'ii carriage Taeoub
Bey, Arabi's delegate, had seated himself. Fifty
or more hoyaks (bootblacks) and fiomars (donkey-
boys), beating their hands and gesticulating, were
running in front of Dervish's carriage, and with
loud voices were singing : " Down with the Chris-
tiansl The dogs of Christians! Down with the
Europeans 1 The dogs of nosorani I "

It was evident the movement was premeditated,
and angnreJ ill for the futnre.

I tamed from the spectacle with the conviction

TUE THREE PROPIIETa

that the enactment of a bloody crime in the toi
peculiar to the OrieDtal was near at band.

Tlireo dajB thereafter, on tlie 11th of June, «
ourred the massacre at Alcsandria.

TUB UASEACliES.

It is known that a secret conncil was held
Cairo on the night of the 10th of June, at wbidi
were present Arabi, Toulba, Ali Febmy, Nedim,
Said EJjandil, the Prefect of Police of Alesandria,
and Suleiman Daoud (Colonel) and Ha^saji Mousaa-
el-Akhad. What was the nature of the deliberatiooB
of that council i It can not, perhaps, be abeolul
determined. But it is a signtScant fact that
dim had openly preached in the mosques at Alex;
dria the massacre of Christians — a fact well known
to Arabi, as well as the violent denanciatione of
Suleiman Daoud. The moaquea at that very
ment in Cairo were resounding with prayrafl
Allah against the hated TWsorani.

MouBsa-el-Akhad and N'edim left Cairo by

usaa-
ion^^^l

THE MASSAOBES.

121

train for Alesandria on Snndaj morning of tlie I
11th. Thoy arrived there ehoiily after midday.
At three o'clock, at a given Bignal in the Bue des
Scenra, tho fiendish work began. The time was '
well chosen. Sunday afternoon the beantiful Place
dea Consnla was filled with the elite of Alexandria.
Toward this place rolled the tide of Arabs, armed
with naboots — a Btont stick, which is a deadly j
weapon in the hands of the Arab skilled from in- '
fancy to its use — and which had teen distributed
in (/reat numhera hy the police. They fell upon
the peaceful populace and brutally beat them
down. It commenced, it has been vagnely said, by I
a Maltese striking an Arab. While the Arab men '
battered out the brains of their victims, their wom-
en, howling like enraged hyenas, broke open stores,
pillaged, and carried off hata, fabrics, ribbons, etc.
The amount of property stolen was considerable, i
M. Ranghabe, the Greek consul, Machiavolli, Ital-
ian agent, and Mr. Cookson, the English consnlar
judge, were wounded slightly in the harouffe — ha-
roi^e being a word to which the CbristianB in the
East are accustomed. The massacres of Saloniea, ■
Syria, and Dj'eddah, are all spoken of as harouff

Finally, recovered from their surprise, the Mai- I
tese, Greeks, and Calabnana aroused themselveB ;

1^

TIIE THREE PROPHETS.

and, armed to tlie teeth, shot tbc enom; down in great
nombers. "Without their heroic snccor, thonBandfl
must have fallen that day. As it was, one hnndred
and twenty Europeans fell under the naboot, while
it IB vagaely estimated that three or four hundred
Arahs woro alain. During all this time, and until
seven o'clock, the Egyptian army rested npon its
arras, waiting for orders from Arahi. It came only;
when the Christians had made it too warm for ihd
Arabs. The Moustafasms — soldiers of the poHctf "
— were ordered out, Init turned their arms against
the whites ; or, nndcr pretense of conducting them
to a place of safety, took them to the Zapt
(police station), where, locked in a cell, they i
butchered in cold blood. It may be interesting t
the reader to cite the following corroepondence,
taken from the English " Cine Book " :

Sir E. Malel to Earl Granm/ie.— {Jlec€ived Jfbvem-M
ber 15.)

Cimn, Noivmher fl,
SIy Loed : With reforonce to my dispatch of Ibe- j
L ultimo, I have the honor to inclose, hercwitb,
1 further and final report which I have
rcL-eived from Mr. Keith Grosjean, detailing addi-
tional evidence which he has been able to procure
"• Uio masiMicree of the 1 1th June. In closing
, Mr. Orosjean expresses bis regret that '

ite^ni

ictf^B
nst
J them ^^m

y wer^^^H
ting to^^^

I

THE MASSACRES.

many broken lioks in the chain of evidenoe still exist,
and statea hia opinion that to connect them a Juge
d'lnstruction with the fullest powers would be re-
quired. I have, etc.

(Signed) Edwabd B, Malkt.

Mr. Gro^ean to Sir E. Makt.

Alkkjiiidbia, Novimhff i, 1882.

Sib: Confirming my previous report of the 10th I
nittmo, and in pursuance of your iastructlons to close 1
the same, I have the honor to report as follows.

With regard to the distribution of naboots I have
obtained evidence that on the afternoon of the 11th
June last, one Ahmcd-el-Gouda, a dealer in naboote,
carrying on business at Warcba Moro, Sikket-el-Ghe* I
didah, near the Fort Napoleon, distributed large quan- ■
titles of naboota to the mob — his place of bueinesa I
being within sight of the battery of the fort whero j
Arab sentries were posted — and that at about 3,4 p
persons showing themselves at the windows, or on the
terraces of their houses, were fired at by the sentries.
I have been nnable to find the names of the sentries
on dnty at the time mentioned, owing to the ntter ab-
sence of regimental or official calk, which ought to
be forthcoming. Doubtleas the sentries did oot fire I
without orders.

That Abmed-uI-Goud:i'9 shop was for a long time
the reoeptaclu for loot there is little doubt, inasmuch
aa although he has disappeared, his servant, a blaok
slave, has been in the habit of removing boxes from
the premises for several nights ; clearly not the stoclt

I boots,]

THE THREE PROPHETS.

^

of Gooda. I understand that no proceedings

■e been taken against the persons dtatribating na-
boots, probably for want of a public prosecutor ; nota-
bly, Mohammed Effendi-el-BIalchadi and his son are
slill tranquilly occupying their bouse from which
many naboots were thrown.

I am informed that one Francesco Strengel,
Italian subject, formerly an olDcer of police, and uoi
possibly in Naples, on Saturday the 10th June, 1882^'
tendered in writing bis resignation to the then Pre-
fect of Police, Said Bey Khandil, on the ground that
his warning to the prefect that a disturbance was im-
minent was disregarded.

I have €xed the departtire from Csuro of IlaaBati
Moussa-el-Akhad at a. u,, 1 Ith June, from Cairo
station, whence he traveled in a firat-claaa carriage
to Alexandria accompanied by John Ninet the Geno-
ese, arriving in Alexandria ehorily after midday. One
Ilaraama, an Algerinc, but apparently not registered
at the French consulate, a person of good repute,
who is supposed to have been killed during the bom-
bardment, IB said to have seen llassan Moussa-el-
Akhad smoking inside the Caracol-el-Libbani at the
commencement of the disturbance near the C:
'etri in the Rue des Soeura.

I have information that a signal for the rising
Lven, to wit, a feigned funeral of an Arab, follo'
by persons, probably cheikhs, several of whom wore
green turbans, passing on the morning of the llth
June last, the day of the massacre, through the main
and minor streets of Alexandria ; I think feigned,
oauBO such funeral procession coming from the lowt

ire

Caf«^lll|

lowe4^^H|
wore lil

llth
main ' ||j

THE MASSACRES. 125

quarter of the town had certainly, if a real one, no ]
reason whatever to pass by the European quarter,
even bo far as the Bouliivard de Kamleh ; this took
place between 10 a, m. and noon.

Here I woald recall the fact of the ciplier wire of
the 10th June from the Ministry of War, dated Kasr-
el-Nil, 5,20 i-. m. (probably Arabic time), deciphered
in the annex to my report of the 18th ultimo, and the
reason given in my report as to its importance, and I
connect this with M. Petrovich's letter to me, dated
the 2d October ultimo, copy whereof annexed to my
previous report, wherein he aaya :

"A un moment donno et comme s'il eat un ]
root d'ordre donni;, tout vacarme ceaaa dans la ru^ j
comme par enchantement ; aprSs quelquea instants,
ayant demand^ ^ un soldat si c'^tait fini, il rae repon-
dit que ' oui, I'ordre 6tant venu de ne plus frapper.' I
i;tait-ce naivetd de sa part ou bien dans la preaque
obscurite ou nous nous trouvions il no reconnut pas
qui le qnestionnait, croyant probablement que c'etait
un Arabe. Maia la r^ponse est exacte, et je la trouva
caract^ristique,"

I refer further to the evidence of Mr. F. Lanzon
(Printed Papers, No. 16, p. 5), with regard to the
remarks by a clerk of a customer to Mr, Lanzon
(since the bombardment this man has not appeared ;
there is no advice of where he may be), and to evi-
dence received that servants of some people warned
them on the 11th June that there was danger in go-
ing out on that day, and recalling M. Vemoni'a fur-
ther evidence, annexed to my previoua report, eape-.J
cially as to ths police at the Caracol refusing to aofr^

THE IIIREE PROrilETS.

If ..„„
BDnsBa-el'Akhnd tisc at Damanhoor.
W I snbmit that tlio above facta alt tend to ebo^ 8
■recoEicerted Bcheme, whereof Moassa-e1-Akhad waa
Billy cognizant, with tbe execution of which he ap-
pear to have been intrtiated, and the early and indoi-
triously -propagated story that the riot commenced by
a quarrel between an Arab and a European, wherein
the Arab was killed, falls idle.

And if the Blighteat credence were given to Bocb
report, it would be strange that the guard at the
Caracol-el-Libbani, almost opposite the place of eneh
quarrel, took no notice of the matter, nor any steps
to arrest the suggested culprit.

By whose instruotionB Moussa-el-Akbad was acting
doubtless ho gathered in Cairo. M. Gousaio,
fcrector of tbe Anglo-Egyptian bank, haa lately m-
Tformcd me that the firing of the town was commenced
by tlie infantry, who marched into the square in regu-
lar order, with bugles playing ; and that while they
(fEected their destructive work the officer in command
{ them Bat on a chair in tbe square Btnoking.

I have lately been advised that, previous to the
tlth June last, Abdalla Nedim frequented Damictta,
making inflammatory speeches, and that he was in tbe
habit of staying with a very notable person of that
town, who prided himself openly on being the cbief
of the National party there, and at whose house, dai
ing the month of May last, meetings, so called ol
;* hienfaisance," whereof Arab! Pasha was the honoi
f president, were actually presided over by Abdalli
Hedim.

>w 8 ^"

THE MASSACRES.

12T I

Another notable of Damietta is eaid to have put
great presaare upon the native commercial community j
for war levies, having at his disposal soldiers told off J
to him.

I am given to understand that one of the nophewcl
of this person has been imprisoned, but that his son 7
and another nephew are still at large and unchal-
lenged.

In closing my report I regret that so many broken
links exist, and am of opinion that to connect them
into a complete chain of Gvidcnce a Jugo d'lDstruc-
tion, with the fullest pOTFcrs, is required; and even
such a ono would fail unless supported by bona fide
official co-operation and assistance.
I have, etc.
(Signed) J. Keitu Geosjean.

It may interest the reader to cite the following
extract of the petition of Mrs. "R., an Englieh sub-
ject to the qiieen, received at the Foreign Office,
September 12 :

Mr. BibtoQ and his party rowed ashore at the!
Marina, and on landing saw two Arab oSicers, They \
also noticed that the gate of the city was closed ; tbey 1
were allowed to enter by a small door through the J
police office. Many of the Europeans were returning 1
from the ships at the same time ; the shops w
closed, and the streets wero filled with Arab soldiers, I
but there was no appearance of any disturbance. Mr. J
Kibton and his paity were in the rear of the Euro- |

^^CsB TUE rUREK PBOPHETS. ^^1

peans who ivore returning from the ships. Suddenly
the Arab soldiers called out " Quick 1 quick 1 " &nd all
the Europeans commenced to ran. In a moment or
two the Europeana in front wheeled round, crying
that the mob were coming. Mr, Bibton and bis party
turned at the eamo time, but the Arab soldiers, with
fixed bayonets, drove them back, and in an instant
they fotind themselves face to face with the mob, who
had already overwhelmed the Europeans in front.
This mob cousiated of the lowest class of jVrabs in the
city ; they wore armed with clubs which wore studded
with nails, with which they beat the Europeans to
death. Aa soon as the EuropeauB felt, the better class
Arabs dragged them out by the feet into the back
streets, stripped their bodies naked, and flung them
into the sea, or buried them in the sand. The Arab
soldiers, so far from interfering to prevent this massa-
cre, joined with and aided the mob by bayonettiag
all who attempted to escape towards the shore.

Between two and three hundred Europeans were
thus brutally massacred. Mr. Ribton and his three
male companions in vain attempted to shield hia
danghter from the blows ; they wei'e overwhelmed.
Mr. Ribton waa twice felled to the ground, and again
staggered to his feet attempting to save bis daughter J
The third time he was felled to the ground he rose i
more ; his three male companions were also butchere
Petitioner's daughter was frightfully beaten abotd
the head and shoulders, and as she was falling a1moi(

insensible, she was seized by an Arab soldier, tvIh

rew her across hie shoulders, and carried her off to
e Arab quarter ; here she was rescued by a friendly

I insensible, st

j^^^Hirew her

THE MASSAOHES. 129 J

Arab oheikh, -who heard her screamB, and who kept I
her in his house til! nightfall, when he scat her home f
disguised as an Arab. Her escape was truly rairacu-
Ions ; she was, however, dreadfully bruiBod, and was I
for days in a most precarious state, and required the I
utmost care and attention. She is still in extremely I
delicate health, and wholly unfitted for any employ- I
inent requiring bodily exertion,

i During this odious haroufe, the two admirals I
EnmandiDg the English and French ehipa in port '
were i n the city, and while returning to their respec-
tive shipboards, they bad been spectators of the scene.
Fith their boats in readiness for embarking, they
sited the orders of their governments. But the
s not. The men nnder this combiDed
eommand, nay, under the command of Admiral
Conrad alone, wore more than sufficient, not only to
have swept the city of the mob, but also to have
punished, as it merited punishment, the cowardly
regiments that every one knew wi
witnesses to the massacre.

This was the supreme moment for action. It 1
is difficalt to understand the hesitancy of an officer 1
to assnme responsibility, however great, in the pres-J
once of a great crime like this, committed againstll
humanity.

Here, under their very guns, their compatriotB I

TDE THREE PEOPIIETS.

11.

^^^^Bbod. It waa an inBtanco, if ever, wLen interna-
f tioual law should be sot aside at tlie cry of linnian-
ity. Bat there were no restrictions, even io the
treaty, for both France and England were, by virtue
of a riglit conveyed in the fonndation by the G^reat
Powers of the dynasty of Mehcmet-Ali, in the op-
gaoization of the control, and in the act of the d&i J
tbronement of Ismail, the cnstodians de jure of thoV
peace of Egypt, as they already were the custodianB
de facto of the finances.

The obligation to protect life and property,
therefore, was binding from wliatever point of view. J
Tlien why defer to the Minister for Foreign A^iiflf
of either country ? It has been charged that tha 1
bombardment of the 11th of July wits a crime.
This waa not tlie feebng of the foreign population I
in Egypt. The crime was committed in the refusal |
to land troops on the 1 1th day of Jnne, and the I
bombardment one month after was a tardy recog- 1
nition of this fact. It was universally asserted at '
the time, and I submit that finbscqucnt events have '
proved it to be so, that it was only necessary to show
to the fellah the slightest disposition to employ force,
the army of Arabi would have melted away like
rays of the morning enn. Egypt then would I

■ #^11.

THE UASSAOBES. 131 J

not huva been loet to France. England would not I
Iiavo escaped by tbis act an occupation which may I
co3t her more than her prestige, and, above all, I
humanity would not have been called upon to I
weep over the calamities which sinco have be i
fallen Egypt.

in Admiral Seymonr'a report of the massacre 1

igays:

Early this afternoon, June ISth, I received the 1
following telegram from Her Majesty's Minister at J
Cairo :

Viceroy aaya if men land from the ships, or the I
garrison apprehend hostile action, there will be .
general conflagration thronghont the conntry. The
representatives of the powers are now going to Der-
vish Pasha to attempt to obtain a temporary arrange-
ment by which the security of the Christiana may
be insured. A few hours later, says Sir Beaucbamp,
the following guaranties have been given ws and ao- ,
cepted : "Arabi Paaha undertook to obey implicitly 1
all orders given to him by the Khedive, and stated. ■
that he would stop all inflammatory preaching, meet- T
ings, and newspaper articles, and guaranteed the m
tenance of public order by the troops. Dervinh Pasha
said be would assume joint responsibility with Aralii
Pasha."

Precisely I Arabi had succeeded admirably i
proving that he was the power in the country ; he I

tf

THE THBEE PKOPlIETa

had ordered s massacre to prove this, and now be
was appealed to to keep order.

Arabi, of course, had coauaeled not to hind
troops tinder a threat of a general conflagration j
bad lie said a general consternation and Btampede,
it would have been more like it.

The morning after that shameful day, ehamefal
alike for the two governmeutB interested, the con-
suls and reprceentatives of the powers must needs
add another act of shamo to the drama. They
caused to he placarded on the walk of Alexandrial
le following proclamation :

THE fivBOfBAHS OF Ar.RXAKDRlA.

Fellow Citizens : Grave disorders have broken
out ill Alexandria. The Egyptian army and its chiefs
engage themselves to re-establish order and cause it
to be respected. We have confidence in it. We are
in perfect accord with the civil and military autfaoii-
ties upon the measures necessary to assure pubtio tran-
quillity. We appeal to your wisdom to aid us in the
accomplishment of this common task. Do not bear'i
arms. Stay at home. Avoid oil occasions for figbts
or quarrels.

In view of the common good, it has been undei-
stood between the undersigned members of the con-
sular corps that all the cawas (consular police), without
distinction of nationality, will havo the s»mn pnwera
of police over strangers.

I

THE MASSACRES. 133

We invite yon to reaped our authority.
The German Conaulate . . Hitmbolt.
The AuBtrian-Hungarian Conanlate, Suzzaea.

Belgium Ba&eeb.

Brazil ..... Nacocz,

Denmark ..... De DritBEicKEii. '

Spain ...... De Urciu.a.

United States .... Menascb.

France Kleceowskih:.

Great Britain .... Cookbon,
Greece EANSHABfi.

Italy MACtttAVELLI.

Netherlanda .... Ansltn,

Portugal Count de Zogheb, j

Russia Svix^RicB.

Norway and Sweden . . . Biedtkee.

A journal of tliat day commenta opon tliia
proclamation. What miglit it not have said if it
had known that the consuls ordered its citizens to
turn over into the hands of the Arab soldiorj
thousands of rifles, shot-gone, and revolvers, their
private property, thus diearming their own people I.
The journal said :

It is impoasililc to tell more clearly to the Euro-
pean population that it is in the hands of the amiy.
Three battaliona .ind a sqaadroo of chasseurs arrive
from Cairo to-night. Should the army make common
cause with the population, I leave you to ^vine the

. iTI

M

TDE TUBEE PR0PIIET9.

perspective. The fleet does Dot give any more sign
of life than if two hundred miles away. The mem-
bers of the different colonies have held meetings pro-
testing against this maasacre, and placing the respon-
ubility upon Arabi and his acolytes.

We consider ourselves for the moment as victims
of Koropean diplomacy. It remains to be seen what
will be the extent of the hecatomb to which we are
threatened with furnishing a contingent.

Borne of the codbqIb, dgnera of this tmfortn-
nate proclamation — unfortunate because it gave
courage to a cowardly and treaelierons soldiery —
were Levantines, bom in Alexandria, and, when they
signed the proclamation, had already eccnred their
tickets to go to Europe. Of the number was the
acting consular agent of the United States, Bajon
Menasce, a Levantine and Austrian eubject, the eon
of the titular agent, who was absent in Europe, hia
leave having expired several weeks before.

At the request of Jndgo Barringer and Gen-
eral Stone, with other members of the American
colony, I was urgently recommended to fill the
place of Mr, JTenascc, and left Cairo to take cliargo
of the post. Mr. Menasce, although on shipboard,
had not yet sailed. When I arrived at Alexandria,
Judge Barringer, Associate Justice of the Court of
Appeals, told me that he had endeavored to make

I
I

I

F

TEIE HA89AOBES. 135 I

him iiiiderstand that hia action in leaving hie post ]
at aneb a moment would be severely criticiBed, and.J
that lio had said to him : " Sir, if yon do so, it ii
base desertion, and the arm of the government wilt
reach you wherever yon go." To which he replied^
that his "personal safety was of more importancftj
to him than the office, which cost him a great deal '
of money," etc., etc. In turn, I advised him to
remain, and pleaded that I should have to eacrlSce
my own personal interests if I were obhged to servo* J
To all of which he replied : " I am going away,
am thoroughly frightened at what has occurred."

The "Egyptian Gazette" of the 2'lth of Junsl
said:

By reason of the departure of the titular agent of
the TTnited States at Alexandria, the American colony
finds itself abandoned at a inomeDt when it has most
need of a consul. , . . "We congratulate Colonel
hong in the renewed proof of abnegation which he
has given in accepting, in this critical moment, tbo ■
grave and delicate functions oE consul in Egypt.

The following morning, as a sort of rejoinder b
the above, there appeared a line in the sa
which said in ex|)lanation that Mr, Menasce hat
been called away by urgent affairs " aupr^a (
grand pejv" — with hia grandfather.

THE THBEE PROPHETS.

RA he should not denert htt poet, and there are no
/amity interests which should induce him to violate
hie trust. We maintain that whicA ice have said"
^ The letter, dated June 15, appointing me, read

h

To CoLoN'EL CnAJLLE-LoNG, Ctitro:

I have tho honor to inform yoa that, in accordance
with the recommendation of the American colony ia
thia city and in Alexandria, in view of the proBont
state of aSaira, yoa arc hereby appointed to the post
of acting consular agent at Alexandria during the
Lce of the titular agent. Baron B. L. de Menasce.

Signed) N. D. Comasos,

United States Acting Agent and Consul -General,

The morning after the massacre Tewfik, accom-
panied by Dervish, went to Alexandria. Arab! I
rode with him to the Btation in an open carriage I

L the ranks of soldiers who lined the way.
The Khedive was pale and ansions. Arahi gave
th e excited crowds assembled at the station the
^on tliat he waa taking to execution the sever- ■
I he had in reality replaced. Tewfik, on hia I
I caused the following proclamation to ba i
i upon the walls of Alexandria:

THE BOMBARDMENT. 137

By reason of tbe incident of Sunday, as anlookcd {

for as regrettable, His Highness the Khedive, with the I
view to calm public feeling and to establish ordei
has deigned to come in person to Alesandria, accom-
panied by Dervish Pasha, Hts presence in the city,
aa well as the efficacious measureB taken, aasure the
maintenance of order.

By order of the Khedive, the Governor of Alexan-
dria has the honor to make knowra to tbe public —
both European and native — that tranquillity being I
restored, business may be resumed as in the past.
The GovKEJtoB of Alkxasdhia,

It ifl needless to add that this did nothing to ]
stop the flight and exodus of Europeans, and espe- 1
eially Syrians, who, from long experience, enuffed
afar the danger which menaced them.

THE BOMBAEDSTENT.

On the 14th the conenlates moved with their ]
archives to Alexandria. It was the signal for a |
general flight. I had been chosen ae the command-
ant of a forl&m hope of two hundred and fifty or
three hundred aneicut soldiers, composed of all

188

THE THREE PROPOETa

nationalities, priucipalljr Prencli, who it was eaJd
would reniain for common defense. It was agi
that a meeting sbould be held on the morning o^
the 18th, at the Cafe (le la Bovrse, to detcrmini
upon noccBsaty meaBores. I went there. Only
four persons had responded. The French consal,
in a circnlar addressed to his people, had declared g
tlrnt he wonld not, under the circumstances, takaj
the responsibility of advising them to remain, and^
onr volunteere had concluded, therefore, to bo off
with the crowd. This conclusion was undoubtedly
the wisest. I went to Alexandria on the 16th to ,
take charge of the United States consulate.

The confusion at the station was indescribable.^
Thousands of refugees invaded the trains, which,
taxed to their utmost capacity, were running day
and night, carrying their human freight packed liko
sardines in a box. From this day to tlie bombard-
ment, more than one hundred thousand Europeans
left Egypt.

Tcwfik, under a pressure of the consnls-general
of Germany, Austria, Italy, and Russia, had formed _
a miniBtry composed of Eachid, Zulfikar, and Zeb;
'ABhaA, with Eagheb Pasha as President of thi
inncU and Arabi as Minister of "War.

This apparent compromise with the crime of tlw

THE BOMBARDMIMT.

11th of June liad been inspired, it was eaid, by the
htimaue policy of the coneuk to do all to avert a
general massacre, and gain time to get their t
patriots out of the country. The panic and exodus,
epen to the dull comprehension of the propfiaf., was
a proof tliat if Egypt was to be for the Egyptians, '
the legacy would be barren, for the money and m- i
dustries were possessed by this Jleeing people, who
since Mchemot-Ali had acquired a right in the soil,
and who, in fact, were as truly Egyptian as the
fellah. The fellah gave to t!je country liia kbor,
the European his money. Their interests were thus i
identified, and consequently the flight of the Euro- I
pean and the withdrawal of his capital from the '
country meant little else than the ruin of the fellah.
The cry which had been raised of '* Egypt for the
Egyptians ! " was understood, when too late, to have
been a deception and a snare.

Arabi was really alarmed. lie retumod to Cairo i
and pai-aded the streets for the first time on horse-
back, and implored the Europeans to remain. The
police, under his ordert), were particularly polite,
and their salaams to the nosorani, whom a few
days before they had treated with the vilest epi-
thets, were in etrildng contrast to their former
inaoloiicc. But the die had been cast. The mas-

140 THE THREE PROPHETS.

Bacre of the 11th had sent a chill of horror
heart of the public, who believed Arabi ta
been its author.

Failing to atop the stampede, he came bi
Alexandria. I saw him a^ he passed the consulate.
The Europeans who had not left — either becanse
the necessary transportation had not arrived, or on
account of their buainesa relatione thej still hoped
6ome favorable termination — were grouped along
the streets. Arabi, in imitation of the Khedive,
waved his band constantly in salutation. No one
responded to his salaam, but stood with hands
their pockets, silent and motionlcas, nnUl be
gone by. The rebuke was only too apparent.

He had seen me, doubtless, and sent a Greek
merchant who was in his good graces to ask me
why the Europeans had refused to salute bira.
" Tell him," I said, " that they attribute to him the
responsibility of the crime of the 11th of June. If
he wishes their good-will, and desires to be con-
sidered the real chief of a National party, let him
hang in the Place des Consuls Said Bey Ehandil,
the prefect of police, with fifty of his naboutiera
(assassins), and all the people of the different colo-
nies will prove to him that they are not hostile to
the liberal aspirations of hia people, and will support

one

%

-eek I

THE BOMBAEDUENT. 141

him. If he does not do bo, then they will conBider
him, as they Bhonid do, tho author of the mafsacre
of the 11th of June." The messenger told me sub-
aeqaently that Arabi'a reply was, " That he was in
the hands of God." " Tell him for me," I added,
" that he will be, sooner than he thinks, in the hands
of the devil."

The ilarquis de G , at that time one of the

edltore of the "Phare d'Alexandrie," told me, in
speaking of his intimate relationship with Arabi,
that one day he said to him ; " I will be to Egypt
what Mehemet Ali was, with this difierence — Me-
hemet Ali was an Albanian slave, while I am a Be-
donin and free, and am more educated than Mehemet
Ali." The marqnia langhingly said : " Yon can
imagine the effect npon me of this declaration, for
I knew that Arabi was not a Bedonin, and, beyond
bia familiarity with the Goran, was abaolntely with-
out instruction." The vanity of the fellah is amply
illustrated in this vnlgar pretension and total disre-
gard of the troth.

In the interval between the 15th of Jane and the
10th of July, I was occupied, with the approval of
Kear-Admiral J. W. Nicholson, commanding tho
American sqnadron at Alexandria, in giving refuge
on board the ships under hie command to Ameri-

113 THE THREE PEOPUETS.

cans, and to the Belgians, Swedes, Syrians, Arme-
nians, Greeks, and others who had songht the pro-
tection of the consulate. To these were added
many French citizens, with their familioe, who came
to me on the day preceding the bombardment, bar-
ing arrived from Cairo to find their consnlate cloeed.
The consnle, early on the 10th, having gone on board
of the ships already crowded to repletion. To have
abandoned these people to the savage bmtalitiee
which ensned was to have insured their morder
and thus add to the unnumbered victims who, hid-
ing in their houses, were sabseqnently driven into
the streets by the mob and butchered. How many
will never be known, but doubtless hundreds per-
ished in this way.

The prompt action of Admiral Kicholson, sec-
onded by the captains of the Lancaster, of the Qoin-
nebang, of the Galena, and of the Nipsic, with the
gallant officers under their commands, while ren-
dering service in the cause of humanity, has
the name of Americans a household word of ent
ment in Alexandria.

On the 3d of July Admiral Nicholson infoi
me officially, and for tlie information of the consu-
lates of other nationalities, that he should dress ehij
and £re the usual salutes on the fourth, in

^

) ren-

ideSH

irme^^^n

TCE BOMBARDMENT.

143

memoratioii of the anniversary of American inde-
pendence. The Khedive Bent hie master of cere-
monies to me, asking if it were possible that the
admiral might forego the firing, as the Arab popnlsr
tion might take it to be a commencement of hostili-
ties. I said : " My friend, wait here. I will let jou
know the decision of the admiral; bnt I don't think
ha will accede to your request. The fourth of July
ifl the American Seiram." I saw the admiral, and,
as I expected, he said : "No, sir I I shall do nothing
of the kind. Who ever heard of such a thing ? "

The fact that, notwithstanding the publicity
given to the expected fete, the Arabs were dread-
fully frightened at the noise and stampeded in
great numbers, until finally reaesured, they re-
turned, overjoyed to find that it was not the guns
of the dreaded Jnglisee.

Colonel Macomb Mason, an American officer
formerly in the Egyptian army, was then an in-
spector in the cadastral survey, and was living in the
Fayoum, district. I had written warning him that
he shonld hasten to Alexandria, He wrote me at
the last moment asking my opinion as to the situa-
tion, and evidently had not received my commu-
nication. I therefore wrote and telegraphed him
to go to Cairo and tlienee to Port Said, know-

L

1144

TIIE THREE PROPHETS.

ligg that commnnioation with Alexandria would be
teut withia twenty-four hours. Maeon remained^

however, and, I am glad to say, is the [ircBent E(

tian Governor of Maesowah.

On the night of the 9th the English consul

mnnicated to me in person the following:

Mb, Coysm. : I have the honor to inform y
ptbat it is desirable that yoa inform your citizens that
they should quit Alexandria and embark on
of ships in the port within the twenty-four hours
lowing this notice.

With sentiments of esteem and consideration,
(Signed) W. Caktwkig:

S. £. M. Consul.

reroaineaj^^
entEgyi^H

msul coi^^^l

It will be remembered that since the 4th of July
ToSlba had been covertly strengthening the defensea.
I On the 6tb of July Admiral Seymour had wamoi
■the military governor that such work should ceaa

" I have to notify your excellenry," he said, " tha^"

!59 such proceedings be discontinued, or if, having

a discontinued, they should be renewed, it will be-

>ur3f<^^^|

»isul. ^^^M

f July
fenses.
vame^^^H

;ease,|^^H

)ome my duty to open fire c

3 worJcs in course ()

To this he received the following characterist
(WTwioBe:

TUE BOMBARDMENT. 14S

To MT Fbtknb the English Admiral : I had tho
honor to receive your letter of the 6ih of July, in
which yoQ state that you had been informed that two
gans had heen mounted, and that other works are
going on on the eea-ahore, and in reply I beg to assure
^ that the said assertioos are unfounded.

TOULBA.

A powerful electric light had been thrown tipon

the forts Sa!eh-Aga, Pharoa, and Silaileh, and had

»vered Toulba's soldiera hard at work.

■The electric light waa stronger than Egyptian

Kjity, On the 10th the admiral again addressed

' ""I shall carry out the intention expressed to you
1 my letter of the fith inst. at sunrise to-morrow,
the 11th inst., unless preyious to that hour you shall
have temporarily surrendered to me, for the purpose
of disarming, the batteries on the isthmus of Ras-
ei-Tin and the southern shore of the harbor of Alex-
andria.

CtTo this Itagbeb Pasha replied :

I regret to announce to you that the Government

of His Highness does not consider this proposition an
acceptable. . , . Nevertheless, as a proof of our spirit
of conciliation, and of our desire, to a certain extent, to
accede to your demand, we are disposed to dismount
three guns in the batteries you have mentioned, either

1

^

146 THE THREE PROPHETS.

Beparated or together. If, in spite of this, yon persist
in opening lire, the Government reserves its freedom
of action, and leaves with you the responsibility ~
this act of aggression.

The answer to this was brief and final :

I regret that I am unable to accept the propoi
r ooBtained therein.

I It IB eignificant to note jnst liere tliat Hie Hi{
• iieEB the Khedive presided at the council of mi
ters at Ras-el-Tin on the morning of the 10th, and
with them gave his adhesion to the defense of the
city. In this movement, therefore, he adopted tl
canse of Arab!. Maj it not be asked, then, why tl
Khedive left Ras-el-Tin on the evening of the lOth,'
accompanied by his military and domestic house-
hold, and retired to the palace of Ramleht It had
been said that if a gun was pointed against Ale:
andria, "Tewlik would place ItimEcIf at the hi
of the army, and would wade in blood against th<
foe." He did not do so, nor did any of his mili-
tary household go ont to aid Arabi, whose inexpe-
rience and gross ignorance unfitted him for com-
mand. As it was, he had no other adviser bnt the
civilian adventurer, John Ninet. It would be cnrions
I to hear Arabi on this subject.

tyt^^H
lini^^^*

the -

"A

THE BOMBAEDMENT.

147

From Admiral Nicliokon I received, on t!ie foi-
ling morning, a note as follows :

n. S. Flagship Lahcabtis, July lOtli.
: Hostilities may possibly break out between
T Britannic Majesty's forces now in the harbor and
the Egyptian authorities within the twenty-foars from
four A. M, of this day. "Xoa will please notify all
persons who are desirous of, and entitled to, the pro-
tection of the American flag, to repair on board of
the ships nnder my command.

Signed) J. W. Nicholson,

Jiear-Admiral, eorri'g TT. S. Naval Mirce.

1 the arduous labor which had fallen to the lot
of the United States consulate — for, in addition to
the care of ite own proteges, it assumed the proteo-
tion of hundreds who were unable to be received on
the already ovorladen ships of their own nationality
— I had been aided by M. Latad, an Italian subject,
and 11. rUuB, a native of Corfu.

MM. Tranjoia Lamotte and Paul Chaix, French
citizens and old friends, voluntered to assist in the
clerical labor; for, bcBides the transfer of these peo-
ple and enregistering of property of the American
protiges, no one could bo received as a refngee on
shipboard unless by an order from the consul. At-
tached to the consulate as secretaries, these gentle-
men rendered valuable service.

1

gentle- ^^J

ever

THE THREE PROPHETS.

P'

I pit

I Be

I "'

till

. A:

mi

I W(

"AJi," the janiesary of tlie consulate, deeem
lial notice. The janissary is the /actotum
every consulate. Armed with a Tarkish cimeter,
and in Turkish costume of any bright hue (each
.consulate having its particular color), ornamented
ith gold lace and with gold-embroidered turban,
le is the open sesame for the consal. Ali was a
pious (?) Mohammedan, bnt, in defiance of hta faith,
never refused ardent spirits. Twenty-five years' ser-
vice in the American consulate had gotten him over
that prejudice. Ali was a born diplomat, and I
lighted at niglit to engage him in conversation aboi
Arabi. "Ye saatak," said he, "sbohal beta Arabi'
maebara, Wallahi sahiah I Your Excellencj, the
work of Arabi is the work of the devil. By Allah,
]& true 1 "
He woe faithful and devoted during all
ame lie served the consulate, and rendered
aid. Ue brought his wife and children to m
I offered to put them on shipboard. They proi
ised to go, but disappeared suddenly. Ali wept
bitterly and said with great feeling : " I shall never
_£$e them again, by Allah ! " The truth is, Ali hadg
mt them to Cairo to the house of a relative, wher
!hey were free from danger.

At ten o'clock of the 10th of July all the othea

1

■abi^^

pally S

I Egypt'

TOE BOMBAEDUEST. 149

consuls, with their personnel, had embarked on
their respective ships. There were no Europeans
left in the city save those who had the nnhappy
inspiratioD to conceal themselves in cellars — princi-
pally Syrian Jews. The employes of the Anglo-
Egyptian bank had barricaded themselves in tlio
building and resolved to remain.

.t was about one o'clock when an American
r with a guard came in and intermpted our
igal repast, which consisted o£ onions and dry
bread. "The admiral," he said, "has been waiting
jonr coming on ship since ten o'clock, and I have
orders to close the consulate and request you to
accompany me on board at once." I immediately
placed upon the door a placard which read thus ;
" jPar oi-dre superieur. Ce conmlat est ferine
Jusqu^d nottvel ordre" By superior authority, tliis
consulate is closed until further orders.

Accompanied by the secretaries and AH we left
the consulate to go on board, in obedience to the
peremptory summons of Admiral Nicholson. The
streets at this moment presented a singnlar aspect.
The black ioahs, whose particular vocation had been
. to guard the doors of the Europeans, were now

^^^^ithout occupation, for their masters had fled ; they
^^^^■n moving about through the soldiery, who at

w

THE TnBEE PEOPHETS.

intervak of twenty paces occupied the Place dea
Consuls or were posted in tho adjacent streets. The
couBnlates of other Tintions had been dosed since
the early morning, and the city was apparently
abandoned by all Earopeans. The coachman (ar-
bagee) who conveyed ns to the wharf was well
known to me; with AH on the box by his side
they quietly replied to the threats and insnlta
of the crowd that "we were friends and not tie
fnglisee" agaimt whom the cnrses of the people
were directed. The arhagee tnmed to me and
said : " Ye £ey, Arahi howah megnoon Wc^lah !
[O Bey, Arabi is a fool, "Wallah 1] He has driyen
ont the Europeans, What shall we do with onr
ardbiahs [carriages] \ It is not the fdlah who
will ride in them. We shall starve." I simply
replied in tlie manner common to the Oriental
when he assents to the arf^ment of his interloe-
ntor, but waives all comment, ^'Jifaleoh." (Ifever
mind; it was written that it sLould be so.) Thia
magic word in the mind of the Arab closes all
discussion, and expresses his submission to the in>
evi table.

We arrived without incident at the MarifiO) on

K wharf, where the admiral's boat was in waiting,
~

I

THE BOMBARDMENT. 151

Lancaster, already under way and slowly steaming
out of the harbor.

The admiral kindly invited me to remain as his
guest, but, having accepted the hospitality of Cap-
tain Whitehead, I rejoined hlui on the Quinnebang,
when the squadron had reached the anchorage out-
side.

The decks of the American vessels, and indeed
those of every other nationality, crowded with their
refugees, presented a carious scene. The bright,
vari-colored costumes of the Oriental, mingled with
the more somber hues worn by the European, pre-
sented a ooiip d'ceil both unique and picturesque.

As the squadron passed the English fleet, unmis-
takable signs of preparation for action were appar-
ent. To quote in nautical language from Lieuten-
ant-Conunander Goodrich, who was standing at the
time on the after deck of the Lancaster :

The lower rigging was "come up" in the line of
fire and was carried inboard. The top-gallant masts
were struck, bowsprits rigged in antll the cap touched
the stem, leaving the whiskers and head-rigging out-
board. The lower and topsail yarda were kept aloft.

On board the gun-boata the yards were eent
down and the topmasts hoaeed, in addition to other
preparations usual on such occasions. The men of

p

THE THREE PROPHETS.

83

each ship Etood at qaartera, and amid a ealvo of
ealutcs the baud of the Lancaster played "God
Bare tlio Queen," to wluch the Englisbmeo re-
eponded with " Ilail Columbia."

A little before eundonn Admiral Conrad, oom-
iding the Freoch eqaadron, likewise ealutod in
ling, and then gave the order to go to sea,
id, steaming away in the direction of Fort Sai*
rae soon lost to view.

This strangely impolitic act, dictated by

Trench Chamber of Deputies, evoked among the

French refugees on the ship a storm of angry de-

OUDciation. A French writer has thus spoken of

le coodact of the Chamber:

n est fait dc nous /i has aur la tcrre d--s Phara-
ona et de Mehemet All. Pendant cinqiiante arta tiovty
avons aemi et lee anglais vont y recueiliir aujourd'kui
le fruit de noa labeurs. Pbta tPitn marin, eut le coeur
gros et maiidit secrHement la pusillanimtti nationale.
(It IB all over with as in [he land of the Ffaaraohs
and Mehemet Ali. There during fifty years we have
sown, and tbe English will reap to-day the fruit of
onr labors. The heart of more than one sailor was
full to bursting, and secretly cursed the pusillanimity
^f the Chamber.) "

The Conference which had been convened i
feneider what action altonld be taken in the Egi

1

THE BOMBAEDMENT. 153

tian crigis assembled on the 23d of June at Cod- '
Btantinople, Each of the great powers was repre- '
BenCed by two delegates, one of which was the
accredited ambassador to the Porte.

Among the various propositions presented, a
collective note was submitted to the Porte, in which
it was advised that the Saltan, acting for the great
powers, should send troops to occupy Egypt for the
limited period of three months, the expense to be
home by Egypt. The Porte refused to accede to
the proposition.

The embarrassment and jealousies of the powers
led the Sultan to hope that he might re-establish
his authority in Egypt. The cooduct of Dervish,
the Tm-kish commissioner to secure that end, was I
not only known in Downing Street, but the deco- 1
ration of Arabi, after the massacre of the 11th of ]
June, was attributed to Dervish, who, with a view I
to a big hacksfieesh, had striven to make the rebel I
cause popular at Constantinople.

Tlie Sultan in the seat of the caliphs at Cairo,
the Ckeikh-elrlslam of the Faithfnl, would consti-
tute him, in the mind of the English Government,
a pei-manent menace to the peace of the Indian
Empire, and put an end, perhaps forever, to Eng-
lish ambition in Egypt. It was not, therefore, eo i

154 THE THREE PKOPHETS.

mncb to punieli the massacre of her poople thatl
England would bombard Alexandria, ,
necessary to anticipate the policy of the Port
which would have been ratified by the powers, i
Dervish been more enei^tic and less bent aponl

The danger was imminent, and England avert- 4
cd it only by the sudden presentation of ber uiti- 1
matum. Admiral Seymoor, as may be seen by hiaJ
report, decided to make two simoltaneons attsclu '
against the defenses ; one by the Saltan, the Su-
perb, and the Alexandra, on the north face of Ra&-
el-Tin, snpported by the fire from the after turret^
of the Inflexible, anchored off the entrance to tbel
Corvette Pass, thus enfilading the light-honse bat- J
teries; the other by the Invincible, Monarch, andJ
Penelope, from the inside reefs, aided by the firs J
of the Infiexible'a forward tui'ret and the T6m6-
raire, which took up a position close to the fair-
way buoy of the Eoghaz, or principal pass leading^
into Alexandria harbor. The Helicon and CondocJ
were detailed for duty as repeating ships, the Cbil-ij
tern as a telegraph ship, and the Beacon, Bittern^
Cygnet, and Decoy were employed aa directed by
signal during the day.

The morning of the Hth broke clear and cloud-

■1

'7

I

TOE BOMBARDMENT. 155

less npon a calm and mirrored sea. In the gray
of the early dawn the English fleet could be seen
manceuvring for position. It was a moment of
breathless and fearful expectation to the peaceful
refugees on shipboard, who were thus to witness
the employment of the heaviest guns ever used in
naval combat.

At seven o'clock the heavy boom of a shot
came across the water, and a thick column of white '
smoke indicated that the Alexandra had opened
the engagement in response to the admiral's sig-
nal from the Invincible : " Attack the enemy's
batteries."

For a few seconds there was a painfnl sus-
pense. The Egyptians could be distinctly seen at
their guns, however, and in a moment answer was
made in the form of a round shot, which gayly
tripped across the bow of the Inflexible. From
this moment the entire fleet let go an avalanche
of shrieking, bursting shell, which, vieing with the
roar and wobble of heavy projectiles, made the noise
both deafening and appalling. Belching flame and
smoke, the ships were soon enveloped in such a way
as only to be seen through the vivid flash as it left
their black iron sides. The sullen, hoarse rumble
of the monster 81-ton gun was clearly to be recog-

HBsfi

THE THREE PBOPHETS.

oised. Upon the line near Hex a fearful ezplo-
Bion toolc place, a ehcet of flame ascending as if to
the very lieavens. It proved to be a etore of gnn-
cotton some dietance in the rear.

In front of Marabout the Condor, commanded
by the gallant Lord Charles Beresford, made a
eplendid fight against the large gnns opposed to
him. Ug kept his wooden ship constantly in mo-
tion, the enemy fitriking him only once in the bow,
and inflicting some slight damage in the rigging.
He dismounted one by one the gnns of the fort
with such precision and celerity that Sir Bean-
champ signaled him during the action, "Well
done. Condor," I witnesBed the landing of Lien-
tenant E. R. Bradford, of the Invineible, with a
party of volanteers, who, under cover of a concen-
trated gun-boat tire, landed through the surf and
destroyed with gun-cotton charges two 10-inch
muzzle-loading rifle guns and spiked siit smooth-
bore guns in the Mex battery. This and the action
of the Condor were the most notable episodes of

Ethe day. Sir Beauchamp says of the bombardment :
■^A steady fire was maintained on all aides until
K&O A. it., when tlio Sultan, Superb, and Alexandra,
Inich had been hitherto under way, anchored off the
Light-house Fort, and by their well-directed fire, as-

THE BOMBARDMENT.

157

aisted by that of the Inflexible, which weighed and
joined them at 12.30 f. u., encceeded in silencing
moat of the guns in the forts on Raa-el-Tic ; ati]!,
some heavy guns in Fort Ada kept up a desultory
fire. About 1.30 r, ii., a shell from the Superb,
whose practice in the afternoon was very good, blow
up the magazine and caused the retreat of the re-
maining garrison.

The casnalties to the English fleet* were six
killed and twenty-seven wounded. On the morn-
ing of the 12th the flags of the squadron were
placed at half-maEt, and a dispatch-boat sent to eea
to bnry the dead.

The loss of the Egyptians was greater than has
been reported; from actual observation, judging
from what I saw in Fort Bas-el-Tin, it could not
have been far short of five hundred killed. The
soldiers to whose gallantry the English commandant
has paid a tribute of praise, it has been ascertained,
for the most part were not fdlahs nor Egyptians,
but blacks from Upper Nubia and the regions of
the White Nile. If Egyj^t's entire army had been
composed of this material, commanded by Ameri-

* For a Eiili anil complete rsparl of the Britiab naval luii] niilltBrj
opGrationa during the cnmpaign of I!<SS, the reader is referred to
tbe vorli of Lieutenuit-ComiuaQder Goodridi, of the United Stalea

LMH

158

THE THREE PROPHETS.

can and European officers, Arab! could not
been commander-in-chief, and certainly Tel-el-Ke-
bir would have proved to be for the Enghsh soi
thing more than a dress-parade 1

An Arabic journal, the " El Taif," pnbliGhi
in Cairo, thtis speaks of the bombardment

On Tuesday, 25 Sliaban, 1290 (July lltb, 7 a. m.),
at 12 o'clock in the morning, the English opened fire
on the forts of Alexandria, and we returned the fire.

At 10 A. M. an ironclad foundered off Fort Ada.

At noon two vessels were sunk between F<
Pharos and Fort Adjemi,

At 1.30 p. M. a wooden man-of-war, eight gui
sunk.

At 5 P. M. the large ironclad was struck by a she]
from Fort Pharos ; the battery was injured, and
white flag was immediately hoisted by her as a eignal
to cease firing at her ; whereupon the firing ceased on
both sides, having lasted for ten hours without ces-
sation. Some of the walls of the fort were destroyei
but they were repaired during the night. The si
and shell discharge from the two sides amounted
about six thousand, and this is the first time that
large a number of missiles have been discharged in
short a time.

At 11 A, M,, on Wednesday, the English ships agidtl'
opened fire, and were replied to by the forts ; but after
a short time the firing ceased on both sides, and a depu-
tation came from Admiral Seymour, and made propoi
tions to Toulba Pasha which he could not accept.

have I

nal HI
on

I

THE BOMBAEDMENT. 159

At 9 A. u., on Thursday, an Eogliali man-of-war
was seen to put a small Ecrew in place of the larger
one which she had been using, and il was then known
that her screw had been carried away by a shot from
the forla.

In order to discover the reason of tlie enemj'B
silence, Admiral Seymour, on tlie morning of the
12th, opened upon Fort Pharos. After Beveral
shots had been fired, a white flag was hoisted on
Fort Ras-el-Tln. An officer was sent to discover
the cause ; he met Toulba Pasha on the Khedive's
yacht, Mahroussah, moored within the inner har-
bor. Toulba said to the officer who accosted him,
" I was on the point of going to see the admiral"
He was told that the admiral could hold no com-
munication with him nntil the Mex and Adjemi
batteries were surrendered. Toulba replied, " I
must communicate with the Khedive." A surren-
der was demanded by 2 p. m. ; Toulba asked that
the time might be extended until 3 v. m,, claiming
the phjBical imposeibilitj of communicating with
Tewfik at Eamleh, in the time given by the officer.
Toulba asked, "What will the English admiral do
if we can not accept his terms?" "Destroy the
whole of the fortifications," replied tho officer.
Toulba rejoined, " There will bo no men in tliem."

icer. ^^J

I 160 THE THREE PROPHETS.

lighted to know that — for hia object was the dei
litiou of the fortfi, not the destruction of men."
Toulba ostensibly hurried off to Kamleh to consult
the Khedive. The Enghsli officer awaited his re-
tnrn on board the MahrousBah, but be waited in
vain, for Tonlba went out to the Mohairem Ber
gate and there rejoined Arabi. The officer, in
leport to the admiral, said : " In luy opinion,
sole object was to gain time t.o enable the soldiery
and rabble to pillage and bum the town with-
out the danger of a Btray shell disturbing thar
operations." Commander Brand, of the Bitt
lie adds, iofonned him that at least five hum
troops in heavy marching order had evaenal
Kae-el-Tin while he was on board of the Mah-
rouBsah.

The odinm which attaches to England — ^to
Beauchamp Seymour — for permitting the desi
tion of Alexandria, is justly merited. As seen
the report of the admiral's aide, dated the 12th, and
about the time that flames were discovered, he
corporated in his letter the suspicion of the inti
of the rebels to bnm the city. Why, it has b(
asked, did not Sir Beanchamp, nnder cover of
:nE, hind a force sufficient to hold the dty.

amj^^l

tha r

idK^H
late^^^^
Mah-

itroO^^H

]

THE BOMBAEDMENT. 161

thofl render impoEsible the pillage, burning, ami
massacreA which followed 1

It baa been asserted that England, for political
reasons, really desired the destrnction of Alexan-
dria. Its mixed population of French, Italian, and
Greek represented anything but English interests.
The city burned beyond hope of resurrection, they
would be driven away from Egypt. England could
thus build upon its ruins an English city where
Englishmen only would be iuvited or encouraged
to reside. If this conjecture be true, then Sir
Beanchamp deserved well of Lis country, and all
the honors which have been awarded him have
been bestowed in this sense. Were it otherwise,
ho would Lave been summoued to answer before
a coui't-martial hie criminal inaction, wLicL was not
unlike that of the 11th of June. The orgy of pil-
lage, fire, and murder in which the Arabs were
indulged after tLo bombardment was construed by
tLem as a confession by the English admiral of de-
feat. It was, in fact, a victory for the rebels, for it
was Christian property wLicL they Lad burned, and
Christian people whom they had massacred.

On the night of the 12th, dense black clouds of
smoke were seen covering the city as with a pall,
and soon the very vanlt of heaven Beemed to be a

162 TOE TnitEE PEOPIIETS.

maes of fire. The calm 'whicb had settled upon
the harbor where lay the English fleet was un-
broken, save by the echoea from the roar of flame
and the crash of falling tower and raioaret. The
Btars were ont, bat these were half hidden by the
black Bmoke whieh obscured them from view. The
Inrid glare projected from the flames reflected in
a thousand fantafitic shapes, upon the sides of the
ships and npon the smooth sea, the flery fleod which
held the devoted city in its fatal embrace.

Captain Whitehead and myself, from the after-
part of the Qainnebang, leaned over the rail in
painfnl contemplation of the horrible panorama
which spread itself before ns. Those of the refu-
gees who had their habitations in Alexandria were
half wild with grief at the spectacle of the de-
Btruction of their homes. Those who had fled from
Cairo trembled at a like fate which they donbted not
was in reserve for that city. Amid the lamenta-
tions and tears of these unhappy people, the inspi-
ration suddenly came to me to go into the city and
ascertain at least the situation which condemned
the fleet to inaction. " Why do not the English
enter the city ? " had been the natural and miiversal
C17, both of officers and civilians, since the ce8Bati<
oi firing. The white fiog had been raised, hi

Batiotl^^^^J

THE BOMBARDMENT. 1G3

ties had ceased, it was possible the enemy had
evacuated the city ; it waa therefore a proper thing,
nay, a dtity, to re-establish the cooBulate.

Mr. G , a correspondent of an English jour-
nal, was the gnest of Captain Whitehead. We
decided to make the attempt to enter Alexandria.
Fortune seemed to favor our design, for at that
very moment we espied a Greek who was passing
in a small boat. We hailed him, brought him
alongside, and, after a great deal of bargaining,
engaged to give him one hondred francs per diem
for hia services.

At five o'clock, on the morning of the 13th, we
went over the ship's side. The American marines
and sailors stood by in silence. They would have
cheered us had they dared, for the attempt really
seemed foolhardy, and was to be attended with no
little risk. The commandant kindly grasped oar
hands as we said " Adieu." " Oh, no," replied he,
"au revoir."

As our crazy little craft slowly worked its way,
guided by onr Greek boatman, into the harbor, we
had time to scan the companion of oar enterprise.
The inspection was not reassuring. He had a lean
and hungry look, and seemed every inch a pirate ; I
Baid as much to G . "Tes," replied he ; "and look

164

THE THEEE PROPHETS.

there, stowed away in the bottom of the boat, there
is all manner of plunder ; the fellow baa been ' loot-
ing.' " It was only too true ; we were destined to be
Btill further astouiehed when we perceived that he
bad worked the boat alongside a strange, rakishJook-
ing craft, a two-maated Bchooner, on board of which
there were a number of villainous-looking Greeke,
who were undoubtedly the associates and copartners
of our boatman — in a word, pirates. We had in-
terrupted him the night before, in his work of
looting in the city, under cover of the darkness,
and when we halted him he had evidently but jnst
returned from s night's " haul." We made 1
keep away from the schooner, and threatened i
shoot him if he did not obey with alacrity,
cried out to his friends not to wait for him, and
obeyed our orders to enter the port.

It was our intention to report the case to 1
British admiral ; but when we returned, the mys
terions craft was no longer there, and our boatman,
when aaked as to its business, affected not to under-
stand the Italian in which we addressed him. The
honor of being the first to re-enter the city was
thus to be shared with our boatman, who was, with-
out a doubt, one of a band of professional thieves
and pirates, who still ply their vocation in 1

F

THE BOMBARDMENT,

165

Mediterranean as in the good old time of tlio buc-
eaneere.

As our boat passed the Ilelicon, the ofBcer of
the deck hailed us. "Where are jou going?"
"Into tlio city," we answered. "You can't go," he
replied ; " there is danger from toi-pedoes." Tak-
ing from my pocket a letter, I held it np, and, signifi-
cantly touching it, said, " OiBcial I " The officer, aa
I supposed, would not object, if he presumed ns to
be acting as bearers of an official communication.
Ali, the janissary of the consulate, whom we had
stowed away in the bottom of the boat, was in uni-
form, and wore his sword. This was sufficient to
. confirm in the mind of the officer our pretensions.
" All right," said he, and we went on our way. I
was puzzled at the objection on the score of torpe-
does, for I suspected, notwithstanding Arabi's boast
that he would blow the English fleet to pieces with
them, that there were but few iu Alexandria fit for
use, and that they were in the magazine ; and no
one having been found, np to the 10th, capable of
laying them, I was willing to take the risk.

We pulled away quickly for the palace of Kas-
el-Tin. Landing at the steps, Ali was ordered with
drawn sword to keep the Greek in place and in
G and myself cautiously took our

THE THEEE PROPHETS.

way through the deeorted passage-way. "Wo i
nothing of the retreat of the garrison of Fort ]
el-Tin, but, as we peered through the gate upon the
paaeage-way to the fort, ample evidence of tlie fact
was to be seen — here and there a body hursti
with cormption, and knapsackE, cartridgc-boxra, a
guns, were scattered about in great confuMon.
shell had passed through the harem part of the
palace, and torn away one half of the building.
The fire, though still burning, was nearly i

Icnel^^^H
-rt Ral^^^
in the

B fa ct I
rsti^^H

The Phare had been picked and battered 1
pieces of flying aliell, and the base partly torn away.
The Armstrong forty- pounders, with wliich, Arabi •
said on the morning of the 10th, " I will sink the
entire Tngliaee fleet within an honr if they dare
attack me," were smashed and knocked abont in
every position. They lay upon their backs, or,
dismonnted in a sitting position, they seemed like
some monster dogs upon their haanches, their great
black noses poked in air, baying to the moon their
plaintive tale of distress. There was one, its car-
riage completely emahed, which had toppled over,
burying beneath its colossal form twenty or mors
soldiers. They were fdlahe, and, it ia stgnifioi
to note, f-heir hands were thd behind them.

THE BOMBAHDMENT.

1671

Hastening back to our boat, we left the palacol
for the Marina, where, moored to the wharf, there I
was a sea of small boats, whose owners, Arab fisher- 1
men, were either with Ai-abi, or had lied from the 1
city. Where there was a bedlam of voices bnt a few
days ago, there was now the silence of death, made
more sinister by the ghastly, swollen corpses of botli
aexes, who had been murdered and thrown into the
sea. "We made oar way through these, and, cau-
tionsly approaching the wharf, landed.

The roar of the flames and the crash of the fall-l
ing buildings rendered the scene highly dramatic. 1
As the wind now and then swept away the blacky J
BtiiUng smoke, we could catch a glimpse of the forms ^
of the wretches who, with torch in hand, were flit^
ting to and fro, burning and looting. The deserted
quay gave me an opportunity to approach the cor-
ner of the street leading from the port to the city ;
there, concealed from view, I could safely watch
their movements. If possible, it was my purpose
to procure information as to the actual condition of
affairs, and the whereabout of Arabi. Very soon
an Arab, his arms filled with plunder, came i
ning toward me, with the evident design of getting,
away with bis burden. As he passed, I extcndec
my foot, and, tripping him, he fell sprawling npon^

E168 THE THREE PROPHETS,

the gronnd ; the cigars, cigarettes, aad tol
rolled away in every direction. It was the work o^
an instant to Bpring upon Lim, and witli my re-
volver in his face ask him in Arabic, " Arabi, where
is he, and where is the army ? " He commenced
by a protestation as to his honesty and his inno-
cence : " Ana raghU tiib, ana mosh liarami Wallah *'
'(I am an honest man, I am not a robber, Ood is my
witness I) " Where is Arabi ! " I repeated,
threatening tone ; " tell me, or I will shoot yon
He then said, " Arabi is at the Moharrem Bey gi
and the army, which left here yesterday (the l!
after firing the town, ia now posted along th« Mi
moudieh Canal." Satisfied that he had told me
truth, I released him. He regained his feet, and,
without deigning to notice his booty, made good his
retreat with all speed.

Hastening to rejoin my companion and AH, who
hallooed to me that we were being pursued, I re-
gained the boat not a moment too soon,
were admonished by the whistling of balls 01
heads.

In passing by the Palace of Ras-el-Tin
ay to the telegraph-ship, to communicate the
It of our reoonnaissance in the city, we notie*
at, in the interval of onr absence, a landing had

-k 0*^1
' re-
he re

aced

ah"
I my

I

and, !

his

vho

I

iced U

THE BOMBAEDMENT.

Klected ; and wMe eeonts were Bearching I
enemy in the vicinity of the forts, wg saw j
to our surprise that the palace was being hok'd.
The British sailors and marines were in charge of ]
an officer -who superintended the stowing away in I
hia boats of nch ailk curtains, costly divan <
pillows, and mattresses, which I recognized as a part ]
of the furniture of the palace. In answer to my I

I protest, the officer smiled and said nothing,
^^^L The Chiltem (telegraph - ship) had been an-
^^^Kored ten miles out. It was somewhat hazardous
^^^fc go to her on the heavy sea which was running ;

but both Q and myself decided to do so, and

the Greek, who affected to be quite devoted to ns,
called ns " master," and said, " Command me, and
yon will be obeyed." It was about eight o'clock
. wo reached the sliip ; bnt, owing to the tre-
mdous sea, we were unable to board her. It waa
refore necessary to pass np our dispatches in a
iket attached to a rope thrown ue from the Chil-

G sent his commanications to the Lon-

" Telegraph " and " Post," while mine were
ftddrcssed to the " New Tork Herald," a journal ■

II for which I was acting at my own expense, and 1

^^^^ serve the regular correspondent, who was lying

^^^BPperatoly ill on the Quinnebaug. The faithless-

TOE THREE PE0PHET8.

^70

nesa of the Eastern Telegraph Company, againi
which Mr. Bnrleigh has recently bronght Bnit, wai
even then apparent. The dispatches sent by m6
were communicated to Admiral Seymour, and were
forwarded later, after the receipt of those received
from more favored sonrces. An urgent dispatch
sent me waa retained on board the Chiltem for
several days, although my address, of eonree, waa
well known. Was the irregnlarity to be attributed
to " military necessity," or was it to be ascribed
to the ill-will of the director whom Sir Beauchamp
removed from office and sent away?

The news of the evacuation was received
Admiral Seynioiu- abont tbe same time that Alimi
Tewfik Efiendi, aide-de-camp to Dervish Pasha,
Zorab Bey, aide-de-camp to the Khedive, who
made their way from Ramleh Palace, came on
to Bfik the admiral if he would receive the Khedive,
whom they reported as having been in great danger
from the troops who had surrounded him.

It appears that Mustapha Effendi Bimbachi,
tbe afternoon of the 12th, paraded the troops andi
his command, and then threw them around the
palace. When sent for by Dervisli, he is reported as
having declared that "Arabi had ordered him t
the Khedive to death and to bnm tlio palace."

jnbed
iiamp I

lim^^^^l
a, an^^^H
ha^^l

"ve,

THE BOMBARDMENT, IIXM

It is Baid in Egypt that tliia little coup de th4-M

e was the invention of Dervish ; and that Mm
tapha had been paid in advance to play the littlffi
comedy, and had accepted with alacrity the hack-
sheesh and the jewels contributed by the Khediva
and the alarmed women of the harem as the price
of his loyalty to the Viceroy.

Dervish, as the savior of the Ehedive, asaured in
this manner his own kind reception by the English,
who might otherwise have been disposed to hold
him responsible for his intrignes since he had been
in the country — intrigues, it was beUeved, which he
had Bet in motion for his own selfish purposes, and
withont the knowledge of the Sultan.

As if in corroboration of this story, Dervish and
his suite, the morning after his arrival at Kas-el-Tin,
hastened away to Constantinople on the yacht Izze-
din. Mr. Mackenzie "Wallace declares, in hia book)
on Egypt, that —

Dervish Pasha, Ahmed Essad, and Sebib Effendi
carried o£E as backsheesh aomethtng like £40,000, and,
notwithstanding a solemn promise to share it equitably
with his accomplicea, Dervish eetfiahly kept it all t
himself, while two of the subordinates sold to thd
Khedive, for £200 and £400 respectively, the keys q
the telegraph ciphers by which the Sultan communi
cated with the chief oomraissioncrs.

3en

he ^1

Mn,

;ze- ^J

TttE THREE PROPIIETS,

'^

The following is Dorvieli Paaha's report, trana-

I from the Turkish. If the commissioner had

rokeii faith and failed to divide with Ahmed and

lebil), it will be seen that he was in accord with

rati:

gem

^Mnrt;

Daring the past year Arabi, at that time a colond
the army, complained that iu all the Egyptian pab-
lie departments a large number of foreigners were
employed, eHpecially English and French, who re-
oeived high ealariea for merely nominal daties. These
gentlemen, sustained by their respective consols, and
by the controllers, had managed to acquire too great
ifluence in the Egyptian administration. Arabi,
mbled by this state of things, determined to form a
He contended that the Khedive ought to take
fhe necessary steps to pnt an end to this state of
things, which was in no sense a result from the opera-
tion of any international obligations. By that remark
Arabi showed that he recognized the respect due to
the conventions to which Egypt is a party. The
Minister of War at that moment, Osman Rifki, a Cir^
cassian by race, imprisoned Arabi, with two colonels^'
who were his principal friends, Abd-el-Al and
Febmy. On the day they were apprehended two rcgiJ
ments proceeded to the Ministry of War, with a vici
to effect the deliverance of their chief officers.

By this act Arabi gained the confidence of
entire army ; and, after some months had elapsed^
Arabi with his regiment surrounded the pal:
Abdin, and demanded by the bands of two

4

.^»i

riie
3ed,^^H

THE DOMBAEDMENT. 178

aioners — Ali Nizami Paslia and Ali Fooad Bey — ^the
Hummoning of tlie CLamber of Notables and a change
of mioistry. The Khedive yielded to this demand ;
the Chamber was convoked, and the Cabinet recon-
fltructed. Arabi entered the Government as Minister
of War and Marine, and the differences between him
and the Khedive were at an end. The Chamber of
Notables began to examine the proposals of the Cabi-
net before it considered the budget. A rumor was
circulated that the Chamber wished to interfere in the
afEairs of the controllers, which was contradicted by
a declaration of the Chamber itself. Arabi Pasha
wished to dispatch some Circassian officers for service
in the Soudan, but they were unwilling to go. They
met, to the number of about twenty-eight, to prepare
a petitioQ for presentation to Arabi Pasha ; hut he,
believing that they were plotting against his life,
caused thorn to be imprisoned. A court-martial was
held, which sentenced them to be exiled to the Son-
dan. The sentence was submitted for approval to the
Khedive ; but Flia Highness wished to commate the
punishment. Arabi and the Cabinet were opposed to
this, and the relations between the Khedive and the
Cabinet began to be unpleasant. In the end the
Khedive exiled the mutinous officers to Constantino-
ple. It was upon this occurrence, which had no in-
ternational significance or importance whatever, that
England and France sent their ships of war to Alex-
andria.

The Imperial Government several times intimated
to those powers that the dispatch of tlieir fleets would
aggravate the situation, and might disturb the tran-

1

174 THE TOKEE PROPHETS.

qaillity of the country. AH the legitimate Btcps
wliich were taken led to no result. Thcrenpon His
Majesty the Sultan dispatched to Hgypt the commis-
sionere (whoee names have been fumkhed), with a
view to effect a reconciliation between the Khedive
and his Cabinet. Arabi Paaha declared to the Tark^
ish commission era that his only objects were
maintenance of the rights of His Majesty the Soltan
in Egypt, the continuation of the anthority of the im-
perial firmanti, the preservation of the status guo, and
the prevention of abuses on the part of foreigners who
were not parties to the International Convcntioni
The commissioners, three days after their arrival
Egypt, accomplished a reconciliation between the hoi
tile authorities. But, unhappily, the presence of tl
fleets, and a trumpery dispute between a Maltese am

a {the Arabic word is not translated), were

cansc of the lamentable events which next occurred
Alexandria. Everybody agrees that there was m
premeditation on the part of the Egyptians; that thi
Arabs only used sticks; and that the Egyptian army,
which was regarded as rebellious, assisted in stopping
the massacre. It was also established that among the
killed and wounded many Egyptians had received
bayonet- thrusts. As soon as the Eliedive at Cairo
heard of this outbreak. His Highness, the Sultan's
commissioners, and the ministers, hastened to Alex-
andria, and the Khedive took the necessary measures
for restoring order and arresting the guilty ones. He
instituted a tribunal for their trial, but the French
and English consuls refused to be represented at tbift
court.

h a

live I

Itan^^H
im- I

THE BOMBARDMENT. 175

The other consuls followed their example, and this
refusal cannot be explained except on the auppoaition
that it sprang from ill-will, Arabi Pasha declared
officially that he would submit to the orders o£ Ills
Majesty the Sultan, as well as to those of the Khe-
dive ; and ail the Notables, the chiefs of the tribes,
and the priests (alema) declared their submission to
the Khedive. At this time the Khedive charged
Ragheb Pasha with the formation of a ministry. The
president of the Cabinet declared that his policy would
be based upon the maintenance of the sovereignty of
Hia Majesty the Sultan, as well as of the finnans, and
the continuance of the status guo and tbc Interna-
tional Conventions. The programme of tho new gov-
ernment also included a. plenary amnesty for the per-
sons arrested for the afEair at Alexandria. Although
the necessary measures for the preservation of public
order were taken, and although Arabi Pasha had de-
clared himself ready to obey the orders of the Suits
and the Khedive, the foreign residents had commenced
and they continued to leave the country. The consul
who were well acquainted with all the efforts mat
by the Khedive and the Cabinet to maintain order^
did not prevent this emigration ; indeed, thoy ao-i
celerated and encouraged it, and the latest events
gave a fuither impulse to this movement. Wo have
now seen how the Khedive and hia Cabinet arrived at
the stage of establishing order and preventing emigra-
tion. But certain " instigations,*' and the refusal of
the consuls to take part in the trial of the prisonei-s,
demonstrate that a resolve bad been taten not to al-
low the Egyptian question to be closed.

I

led

nts ■■

i

\'je THE THREE PROPHETS.

After everything was ended and the army
submitted, Admiral Seymonr osaamed a menaci
attitude. At first he complained that repairs were
being made in the fortifications. The Khedive and
Arabl declared ofliciall; (not withstanding that Eng-
land was making military preparations at home and
even on board the ships of war in the port) that the
Egyptian Government and army only wished tba
maintenance of the status quo, and were not making
any military preparations. After this assurance had
been given, Admiral Seymour reverted to hia former
contention — that is to say, he declared that, if within
twenty-fours the preparations on the forta did not
cease, he would open fire upon them. Again the
Khedive and the Cabinet repeated their declarations,
and they proposed to the admiral to accompany him
to the fortifications in order to satisfy him of the ab-
sence of all preparations. The admiral refused the
offer, and after the expiration of the twenty-four
hours he sent a now ultimatum, wherein he demanded
the disarmament of the fortifications, and that they
should be surrendered to him within twonty-fom-
hours. The Khedive hastened to convince the ad-
miral that he could not consent to this demand, be-
cause he did not see what reason there was to justify
it. Thereupon the admiral, four hours before tbe
expiration of the time fixed upon by himself, thereby
trampling under foot tbe principle of the right of na-
tions, commenced the bombardment. One very sig-
nificant fact is the following : Not only did the Eng-
^sh and French abstain from sending delegates to the
jtribunal appointed to try the rioters of Alexandria,

lacu^^^l

F

THE OOODPATION. 177 '

but dtiring the bombardment the Englbh admiral
fired upon the vessel where those riotera were con-
fined, and killed several of them, while others took to J
flight. One can scarcely tbink that the English ad-T
miral's sbella were directed with the view of relea
the prisoners ; doubtless those shells were fired with a I
special object which is for the moment nnknown.

U

THE OOOUPATIOH.

Au MTKH T. Setmoub sajR in bis report :

On the evening of the 13th a party of blne-JacketS
landed with a Gatling gun and cleared the streets of
the Arabs who were setting fire to and pillaging the

town.

On leaving the Chiltern, Mr. G and myself^

returned to the Qainnebaag, where the fleet-signals
had already conveyed tlie news of the evaenation as
telegraphed by lis. "We were received with many
expressions of Bympathy by the refugees, and b^
the officers and men of the ship. After accepting
a luncheon offered tia by the commandant,
started again into the city, where we arrived at thi

mUtS THE THREE PROPIIETS.

saino niomeiit as tLe marince and blue-jackets mvi
by Adniii-al Sejmonr.

Apparently tmrnindful of the presence of t
force, the Arabs were still engaged in the work i
which we had seen them in the ntoming.

The Galling waa placed in position, and, in I
few moments, the street was cleared, bnt j
numbers fell tinder the rapid fire of the mitr
lease. The detachment puBhed its waj along 1
quay to the arsenal. Arrived there, to my ems"
prise, a man dressed in the official co&tiime — ^the
stamboulino and fez — approached, and, in reply to
my challenge, gaid in Arabic, *'I am Maetapha
Bey, prefect of police, and have como in advance
of the Khedive, who ia on his way from Kamleh." l

"What did he eay?" aeted my companiooj
who did not nnderstand Arabic. I replied,
says tliat he is the prefect of police," "The devi

he ia I " said G , and, turning upon his heel, 1

cried, " Soldiers, you have before jon the infamoni
prefect of police of the 11th of June!"

" Halt, men ; don't fii-e 1 " I had barely time to
say, as twenty or more rifles covered the tremblic
Mustapha. " Thia man is not Said Khandil, but h

', and has not been connected with Arab!."!

Knstapha Bey sank back upon the stono bend(a

I

THE OOOUPATION.

179 '

K;

the gate, and, wlieii Bufficiently recovered from
!ia fright, told ns of what had occurred at Ramleh.
At this moment tho Khedivo and his attendants,
escorted by the now loyal Eiinbachi, passed along
the road on his way to Kas-el-Tin, .

Dressed in a white linen suit and white canva«i|
fihoes, my clotheB in the morning had been quite
clean. The day's work, the black smoke and ashes,
added to an accident in tho capsizing of a boat, had
langed tho color to an indeaeribablc hue. In a
rord, my dress was anything but presentable,
"otwithstanding this, liowerer, I went to tho pal-
where the master of ceremonies insisted that
ly costume was quite correct, and he caused me to
be admitted at once to tlie viceregal presence.

Among the many Europeans who had follow*
the fortunes of Tewfik Pasha to Eamleh
afternoon of the 10th, and who had returned witl
him, I saw seated on the divan General Sti
Pasha, Dr. Abbate Pasha, and M. Danphin. I
last seen General Stone on the morning of the 101
He had accompanied me on a visit to the Lancaster
for the purpose of confiding his son to the care of
Admiral Nicholson. M. Dauphin, a French eiti-
old friend for whom I had entertained]
tTO fears daring the bombardment. Ha

]

180

TIIE THREE PBOPHETS.

declined At the last momeot to accept the hoepital-a
ity of the American ehips for himself, wife, andJ
daTighter. He told me that he bad had a very hard J
time of it; that Dr. Hasaan Bey, of the "Inten-J
dauce Sanitaire," had invited him to remain with ]
him at tlie hospital. "When the bombardment c
nienced, a shell accidentally carried away a comer J
of his honse. He thonght it pradent to go in quest J
of Uaaean. The streets were tilled with the howl- (
ing savages, intent upon murder and pillage. Dia- 1
gnised in Arab garments fnrmshed them by a faith- 1
ful servant, he picked bis way, accompanied by hi^J
wife and daughter, to the hospital. Hassan Bey, i
for some reason, had abandoned his post, and M.'
Dauphin was obliged to seek safety elsewhere.
Amid scenes of shocking brutality and murder tbcy
finally found their way, on foot, four miles distant,
to the palace at Kamlch, where they were warmly j
welcomed by Tewfib Pasha. M, Dauphin promised i
me that, if Alexandria should be treated to another*
bombardment, he would gladly accept the hospi-l
tality of the American consulate.

On account of the flre and falling buildings, it
was found impossible to enter the heart of the city
that day. The troops occupied tho arsenal and the i
quay, and detachments were sent to patrol certain I

THE OOOXrPATION. 181

streets yet Tiiibomed and which pennittcd locomo- ]
tion. From tlieso they drove oat the murdererB j
and plunderers, or ebot them down if canght in any |
BUBpiciouB act.

On the morning of the 14th Captain "Whitehead
kindly caused a boat to bo lowered, notwitlistand-
ing a very high sea, to take me on board of the Lan-
caeter. After having reported the reoonnaismnoe
of the day before to Admiral Nicholson, I said;
" The city is burning, and will be entirely destroyed
if no efTort is made to extinguiah the fires. I wish
to re-establish the American consnlate," The ad-
miral replied, " I sliall go into the inner port, and I
will send you a force during the day to aid yoa in J
defending your consulate and put out the fires."

Midshipman Perkins was in charge of the hoatj
wliich took my secretary, All, and myself on shore.
He was enjoined that, having landed ns, he should
return immediately. The admiral naturally desired
to avoid any act whicli might be construed into t
participation with the belligerents. The moment, 1
however, the consulate should be re-established, 1
there could be no reason to refrain from entering!
the city, which had been evacuated by the enemy ;.j
above all, when the euprerae autliority, the Khe-1
dive himeelf, was now at Ras-el-Tin, and had in-a

162

TUB THREE PBOPHET8.

Toked the action of tlio comiaaadanta of the oav]
furcea prcecDt with a view to secure the re-eetablisM
merit of order. Tewfik Pasha made tliis demaoi
personaHy to Admiral Kichokon, and BobseQiietit^
acknowledged the service in a Epecial letter of
tbaitks oddreeaed to the admiral.

The firea had bnrned down anfBciently to j
mit tlio paBsage of the troop, who were cow prfl
paring, as we landed at tlie Marina, to enter thji
cdty for the purpose of sccnring its entire occnpt
tion. In mj diary I made tlieae notes :

July 14, Oi.M. — Accompanied by my secretary an J
All, pushed my way through the black smoke stifling
with lime and dnst. In many places a wall of flame
burst from windows and doors, and, leaping across the
narrow street, barred the way. AVe could only pass by
climbing over the burned buildings and the fallen walls.
AVlieji the streets were regained in places where the
fiio had capricioosly leaped over and left honses in-
tact, there were to be seen the scattered dibrU of the
plundered shops. There were iron safes, which had
been dragged from the houses, and the marks of
chisel and bar upon them, which showed the ineffectual
attempts id some cases to open them. Books and
papers in the greatest confusion were strewed about,
and upon them were to be seen the blood-staina which
told their significant story more plainly than words.

Great numbers of starving cats dragged their
bodies along the pavement and mewed in plaintive

THE OOOUPATIOF.

183

notes their groat distreas. There were dogs, half mad
with hanger, who followed aud snapped at you in
passing.

We rejoinsd the English detach meiit as we
emerged from a street near the Zaptich. A party of
Arabs were engaged in rifling the dead hodies of
their victims. The officer commanding the detach-
ment and the mitrailleuse manned by the blue-
jackets cried out, "Give her a turn, boysl" and,
when the smoke cleared away, there was only a heap
of bodies piled one upon the other.

A m ill such scenes as these we reached the Place
des Consuls. The once beautiful square was now a
mass of blackened ruins. It was difficult to recognize
a spot which a few days before had hcen the pride of
the Alexandrians. Through the smoke and blinding
cinders the American consulate, the adjoining Epis-
copal church, and the Palace of Justice, were dis-
cerned to ho standing. All else was in ashes save the
statue of Mehemet-Ali, which seemed to look down
with hoiTor upon the ruins around.

It was midday, and wo retraced our steps, hav-
ing lost sight of G in the confusion, the streets

being almost impassable hy reason of the falling
buildings.

In the afternoon an armed force from the United
States ships Lancaster, Nipsic, and Qninnebang — as
promised by Admiral Kicholson — landed and occu-
pied the TJnitod States consulate. It was composed
of a company of marines, a GatUng gun, and a com-
pany of sailors, a three-inoh breech -loading rifle and
crew, under the command of Lieutenant-Commander

184 THE THREE PROPHETS.

Goodrich, Lieutenant-Commander Hatchinge, U. S. N.,
Captain Cochraoe, and Lieutenant Denny, U, S, M. C.

At nightfall, accompanied by Captain Whitehead,
I returned to the consulate and formally reopened it
for bnsineaa. It ia unnecesaary to say that at this
moment there were no citizens to protect on Bfaore.
The city was stiH a perfect blaze of tire, and the heat,
Bmoke, and cinders verc almost insupportable. Tho
enemy, too, was reported to be still on the Mahmon-
dieh Canal, and a rush might be made at any mo-
ment to regain possesaion of the town. The officer
in command placed the Gatling in the doorway of
the large corridor, which preaented facilities for de-
fense as well as served for quarters for the one httii'
dred and sixty men of all arms which composed
detachment.

We found two females, an Italian and a Gi
badly wounded, lying among the murdered in
Btreet. They were taken up tenderly by the TTnitt
States soldiers and carried into tho coneulate.
Italian woman had been transfixed through the thigh
with an iron bar. They were sent to the hospital
nnder the care of Dra. Ardouin and Dutrieui.

The 15th of July. — Lord Charles Beresford was
made prefect of police, with Lienlcnant-Commaiider
Baiton Bradford as depnty. They have their quar-
ters in the Palace of Justice, only a few paces op-
posite.

A great number of refugees of all nationalities
have been landed from their respective ships and
ordered to go to their homes (sic). The unexpected
length of time they have remained on shipboard

r de-

hun- ■

ith^^H

1 th^^H
nite^^^^l
Tfaij^^H

THE OOOUPATIOIT.

185

overtaxed their commissariat, and the diBembarkment
was necessitated by reason of short rations.

The French, English, and other consulates have
been totally destroyed, and the consuls-general there-
fore remained on board ship with their subordinateB,
The French refugees, and many of other nationalities,
to the number of five or six hundred, have collected
in the Place Mehemet-Ali. Under the rays of a July
sun, without shelter and without food, their situation
was really pitiful. Commander Bradford would not
permit them to enter the unhumed houses uniesH they
oould present a certificate or pass as a voucher of the
honesty of the bearer. lie adojited this measure to
prevent looting, it having been reported to him that
several white men had been caught stealing. The
French citizens were greatly incensed at what they
denounced as abandonment by their consular officers.
They came to the American consulate, asked the pro-
tection of the consul, and threatened to address a paper
to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the subject.

The 15th. — Commander Bradford proposed to me
that should I act in behalf of the refugees, ho would
recognize my certificate. Accordingly, with the secre-
taries, I placed a table on the sidewalk in front of the
American consulate, and there, during two days, from
early morning until late at night, we issued passes to
the applicants, who, for the most part, were known to
me individually, or were vouehed for by the secretariea
and Ali, who took great pleasure in the service. All
was very proud of hia new-found dignity and impor-
tance. He said, " Mr. Consul, please let the ' Khedive
in America' know how much I have done for these

188 THE THREE PnOPHETS.

poor people." I promised him to do bo.
tbe Consul-Oencrat of Sireden, kindly TOlanteered t
replace me during an enforced absence of Bereral
hoars (the Swedish GovernmeDt, it iB said, has deoo-
rated him since for this Bervice). The eonsul-gonera
was the guest of the admiral during the bombardmeaiU
there being no men-of-war of Sweden in port.

Finally, when cxhaaetcd by fatigae, I sent won
to the several consulates, and especially that of Franoi
that they must send a representative on shore to t
charge of their prole;/ ea.

The 16th. — The consuls returned and eBtablisbof
themselves wherever they could find quarters in 1
Qobomcd districts.

The American officers. Lieutenant • Commanders
Goodrich and HutchingB, LieutenanlB Denny, Coch-
rane, Bomett, Graham, Waller, Dent, Smith, and Dra,
Gardner and Anderson, have worked with indefatiga-
ble energy in putting out the fires. The consulate has
taken fire twice, and the Episcopal charch and tie ad-
joining rear buildings have only been saved by the
most untiring energy and devotion of officers and men.
Among other buildings saved through the exertions
of the American officers were the Cri5dit Lyonnaia,
the house of Padoa and Borelli, the Palace of Justice,
Ahbat's Hotel — in fact, all that part of Alexandria
hit standing.

A United States marine was wounded while stanl
ing in the uncovered corridor of the consulate by^
stone thrown from the opposite building. A sentf
gave the alarm. Search having been made, an Arab
was found secreted in a room. Ho held in his hand a

THE OOOUPATION'.

isr

smoking torch with wlii^h he was burning the build-
ing. He was saved from the infariated English sol-
diery with difficulty, and was taken before the druni-
head court-martial, which sat at all hours upon the
piazza of the Palace of Justice.

The prisoner, his handa bound behind him, main-
tained a stolid silence, and one could easily perceive
from his demeanor that be was a religions enthusiast.
His trial and condemnation were the work of a few
momenta. Tied to a tree with his back to the guard,
the detail fired, and the sergeant delivered the coup de
ffriicej the cords were cut, and his body was thrown
into one of the open graves which had been prepared,
dug aide by side in long rows beneath the trees, which
served as posts to which the victims were bound. The
trial, condeniDatioii, shooting, and buriai, liad not
consumed twenty minutes !

Arabi, it is said, has adopted thia means of regain-
ing possession of Alexandria, The man who baa been
shot was one of the many soldiers who, dressed in
the gown {gallabiak) of the fellah, came into the city
bearing white flags, and at night secreting themselves
in the houses, endeavor to complete the destruction
of the town by fire. Qaite a number have been
caught in the act and shot. Drs. Dutrieux and Ar-
douin, whom I have installed tn Aide's house as the
headquarters of the sanitary commission, have com-
plained that unleaa the interment of bodies in the
Place ceases, tboy will not be responsible for the pest i
which must ensue.

To-night (the 16th) Lord Charles Boresford and
Commander Bradford came to the consulate. Lord

t

188

THE THREE PROPHETS.

Cbarlcs tells ua that Arabi has caused It to be
known that he will attack the city in great force,
that he haa sixty thousand men at MeheUah and Kafr-
«1-Dawar. The prefect of police claimed that he did
not have men enough on shore to make a rcsistanee,
and he therefore proposed, in tho event of an attack,
that we should re-embark, and that tho Americans
" should bring up the rear with the mitrailleuse." The
officers proposed in turn that Lord Charles should first
fall back upon the American conanlate, a remiirkably
strong building and well adapted for defense. " The
Americans," on being informed of the desire of Lord
Beresford, were greatly elated, and gave cipression to
their enthusiasm by cheers.

This information, it seems, had a contrary effect
ii|ioa the Germans and Russians, who had landed only
that day to re-establish their consulates. They packed
np, and at nine o'clock at night marched past the
Aiuerioan and English guards, and down to the quay,
where they rc-embarked. The sentries and soldiers
who witnessed this withdrawal were by no means
complimentary in the remarks which were made at
what seemed an abandonment in a moment of danger.
Tho refugees became alarmed, and many of thea
stampeded and returned to the ships during tho nigbti!
for protection.

In the mean time, the American consulate was being
placed in a state of defense ; mattresses, pillows, and
bedding of all kinds, which had been recovered in
great quantity from the streets, and which had been
left in th« hasty retreat of the Arabs, served to pack
doorH and windows, and in a few hours the house

4

THE OOODPATION.

declared to be proof agaiust Arabi and liis sixty tboa-
sand men — at least bo eaid the American Bailor and
marine !

The rebels made a feiat attack during tbe night
upon the Moharrem Bey gate. A mine was said to
bave been exploded under the attacking party, but it
bad no practical eignificance. The truth was, Arabi
never seriously entertained the idea of a return to

On tbe 17th I rode down to Fort Ras-el-Tin, for
the purpose of procuring information for my former
comrade, Colonel Beverly Kennon, as to the battery
which he constructed for the coast-defense in 1870,
when he was an officer in that branch of the service
in the Egyptian army.

The fort was circular in form and sub terraneous,
it mounted a breech-loading rifle forty-pounder on a i
lift-carriage and counterpoised platform. After firing,
it waa intended that it should descend to the bottom
of the pit, where the magazines, shell-rooms, and qnar-
ters were situated. To prevent dropping shells, it was
designed to have a conical turret. This admirable bat-
tery, the construction of which was due to the genius
and skill of Colonel Kennon, an experienced naval
officer, bad not been used at all, and, judging from the
quantity of dust which choked the gnn and nearly
filled the well, no one had visited it since the day
when Kennon, fatigued with Egyptian intrigues, re-
signed and returned to America.

The IStb.^lt will be interesting to mentioD J
here a singular character, a familiar figure to Al« I

190 THE THKEE PROPHETS.

exandrianB, and who bad been known to me for
xa&ay years as " Nikor the Pbiloaopber." Nikor was
crazy, and crazy people of whatever caste or religion
are deemed Loly and under tbe epecial care of the
Muesulman. "Was it to this fact that he wus spared
the knife of the asBassin dnring the rade days of
the lltb, 12th, and 13th? In the flight from the
city no one had paid heed to Nikor. He concealed
himself in the kiosque near the statne of Mehemet-
Ali. From his hiding-place he witnessed the scenes
of horror which were enacted around him, and
within a few paces be saw Colonel Suleiman Daoud
when he gave the order to bum the city. Later
be stood aroond the gallows and looked npon Sulei-
man when he hung by the neck for the deed
mitted one year before.

Nikor came to Alexandria a little more tl
fifteen years ago. lieason bad not entirely left
her throne when be arrived, and the kindly Alex-
andrians listened to the story of hie wrongs with
sympathetic car. Bom in Armenia, of rich parents,
he was confided to the care of Armenian priests,
who robbed him and turned him adrift. In vain
he songht redress. No one would espouse bia
cause. In Alexandria, for fifteen years, be baft
bved in the streets npon the charity of the pi

ulei-
;ba^^^

THE OOODPATIOS. 191 '

lie; sever aakiiig alms, he accepts the proffered
piastre, but, having by custom established a tariff,
he will return the coin if it should exceed the vahie
of a piastre, or tender yon the change. His appetite
is simple, except in the matter oi p&tisserie, of which
he is an absolute gourmand. He has the singular
habit of standing for hours with one foot raised and
resting upon the knee. Clad in a thick coat and
pantaloons, the inside invariably turned out, he ia
always barefooted and bareheaded. The s(Ariquet of
" Nikor the Philosopher " has been given him for
the reason that he has carried, all these years, a very
large stone (the philosopher's stone !) under hia arm
during the day, and which serves him ofi a pillow
at night, when he curls himself np to rest with no
other covering save the canopy of heaven, and no
companion save the scavenger-dogs in the street.

He came to the consulate on the 14th of July ;
his gaunt and emaciated appearance too plainly told
the story of his sufierings ; he was given meat and
drink, and Kikor went ont as silently as he had
come. I noticed that Nikor no longer carried the
philosopher'a stone. "What revolution had taken
place in his mind that had caused him to discard
the treasure he had carried for years ? "Was it the
scenes tbrongh which he had passed that had driven

193 TOE THREE PB0PHET8.

liitn from his pIiiloeopLy 1 Be this as it may, Niki
o&n not be induced to approach his hiding-place itt
the kiosquo, but this does not prevent him from
going elsewhere upon bis accustomed round, and
he indulges in pdtisterle whenever he can, with t
same TOracity as of old.

The 30th, — The massacre at Tantab has createc
great excitement in Alexandria. Taatah is the third
city of Eg3'pt, situated along the line of the Cairo and
Alexandria Railway, midway between these two cities.
It has a population of sixty thousand bouIb, principally
MusBulmans, but among whom there are also many
Greeks, Syrian Jews, and a number of French and
Italians. It has been an attractive Bpot to travelers
during the fetes which occur every yew iu honor of
the saint, Cbeikh Sald-el-Bedaoui, the patron of ster-
ile women, who make yearly pilgrimages to his tomb
and there invoke his bi>iieQcent aid. The United
States Government was represented in Tantah in tba
person of Mr. Dahan-Dahan, a grave, and distin-
guiehed -looking gentleman. Daban is a Syrian Chris-
tian, and has been both honorable and dignified in his
consular office. lie left Tantah after the massacre at
Alexandria, for, guided by bia experience in Syria, and
knowing the ferocity of the ignorant fanatic, be felt
sure that Tantah would not escape, since threats bad
been made by the Moslem fiki (priest) for several
months to massacre the Christiana and Jews. Dahan,
having no subjects to protect, vriaely closed his offie(
and came to Alexandria,

TILE OCCUPATION 193

Dr. Fredda, an Italian physician, for raaoy yeai
in the Sanitary Ititendance of Egypt, was one of sev-
eral hundred who remained in Tantah. Duty was
one consideration which led him to remain, and the
other was that he, in common with those who were
brutally murdered, could not believe that the gentle
fellah, with whom be had been until then upon terms
of friendship, would raise his hand against his bene-
factors. The sequel proved the fallacy of this con-
fidence. On the 13th of July, trains, filled with plun-
der gathered in Alexandria, brought also the mass
of the wretches whose appetite for blood had been
whetted in the scenes enacted the day before. Fren-
zied with fear and drunk with religious fanaticism,
they invaded Tantah, crying, " Death to the Chris-
tian I "

The Europeans, men, women, and children, were
seized, bound with ropes, and dragged throngh the
streets, their limbs pulled from their sockets, or, fol-
lowed by women, their viscera torn from their bod-
ies and wound around their necks in mock ornament.
As if this were not sufficient to gratify the measure of
their hideous brutaUty, they beat with bludgeons the
quivering flesh of their victims into a jelly.

Dr. Fredda told me that from bis hiding-place ho
witnessed these scenes, and further said that he saw a
woman cut the flesh from a child still living and offer
it for sale in mimic auction, as in the market-place :
"Achterez laham belai Nbsorani" (Bny the meat of
a Christian), " wahad girech el oke" (one piastre per
oke).

Minchoui-Boy was a Mussulman who had

93 ^^1

iv-"^!

r

L

194 THE TIIREE PROPHETS.

Christian friends in Tantsh. On the nigbt of the
1:1th, at tbe bead of a band of Bedouins, and wben
thcKu hideous butohcries were at tbeir height, Hia-
cboui dubed in among the demoniac fiends and, form-
ing square, snatehed from their bloody hands, or took
from their hiding-plaees, more than fonr hnndred
('hriatians. He escorted tbem safely to Ismallia and
Port Said, anil thence they arrived safely at Alexan-
dria. In the distribution of medals, decorations, and
titles, made after the English occupation, it woul
have been a graceful thing to have rewarded
choiii for this act of humanity and heroism.

The lOth of August. — Meaasce wrote, asking
to assume the control of his property. His city
di'Dce, a lar^e and elegant building, h»d been sacked'
by the Arabs. Notwithstanding this, I put General
Stono and bis family in possession, and I also wrote
to Judge and Madame Barringer, offering them b
part of the bouse when they should return from En-
rope. IIoRses were at a premium, and rents had al-
ready doubled, and but for the beautiful subnrbaa
collection of residences stretching along the eea, and
known as Rambth, it would have been impossible for
Alexandria to have accommodated its inhabitants.

Order has finally been re-established. The admir^
boa decided to withdraw the guard from the consnl-
atc, and they have re-embarked. The attitude of the
natives, however, continues to be one of sullen def
ance.

The 18th. — As usual, after the work of the day,
drove out for recreation to the canal, where, ev>
afternoon, the iron-clad train was pushed forwi

THE OCCUPATION. 195

tow^ard Mehallali, Arabi's advance post. Tlie oannon-
adiDg which then ensued was very seTcre, and the
Alexandrians would have enjoyed it, but for the nn-
ploasant precision of the batteries of Mehallah. Ao-
companied by an English correspondent and the sec-
retary of the consulate, we drove swiftly along the
tiabarri road about six o'clock in the afternoon. After
passing the newly formed English post some consid-
erable distance, and when at the intersection of a
street, we were surprised to see a crowd of Araba.
The quarter was isolated, and it looked suepicious. I
felt for my pistol, but to my dismay discovered that
for the first time I was unarmed, having left it by
accident on my dressing-case. To the cry of the ea'it
(groom), "Ouarda ye, geddah" (Look out, O men!),
the Arabs wheeled suddenly, and, assuming a threat-
ening attitude, barred the passage of the road. It
was evidently a preconcerted attack. Lashing my
horse with a stout whip, for the purpose of forcing
a passage, we dashed into the crowd, and, passing
through, knocked down and ran over one of their
comrades. In a moment the mob, numbering forty
or more, drew from under their gowns their con-
cealed naboote, and with cries of "Mootou/" (Kill him)
they throw themselves npon ua. Cautioning my
frienda not to move, and to draw their revolvers, I
leaped from the low, open carriage in which we were
seated, and sprang toward the man who appeared to
be the chief, and who had seized the horse by the head,
and waa struggling to throw him backward upon
the carriage. With a heavily loaded whip I struck J
him a violent blow which stunned him ; he fell, but,. I

19G

Tire TilREE PROPHETS.

recovering, ran away. The infnriated crowd quickn
advanced toward me, and, backing against a stoni
wall, I defended myself with the energy of despera-
tion. It was naboot against whip, and the latter vaa
the most efficient. My frieods in the mean time cot-
ered them with their piatok, which Lad the effect to
keep them in chock. Finally, the English soldien,!
attracted by the yella of the mob, came at a double- J
quick to our rescue. The officer arrested the ring
leader, who was badly wounded, bnt the rest of thei
escaped. Although covered with blood and dust dui
ing the melie, I had not received even a scratch. Ths"
commandant of the post made a charge against the
prisoner, and a few days thereafter I was summoned
before a court-martial aa a witness against him.

The president of the court, a pasba loyal to tha I
Khedive, and the Arab members, were little inclined '
to show mercy. The statement made by the Englisb
officer to the court, I was certain would result in hang-
ing the accused. I pleaded for bis life, and obtained
his release. The pasha, however, insisted that the
prisoner should he bastinadoed. The Arab, from the
depths of grief, was transported with delight ; and aa
I passed from the room be blessed me with extravi
gant invocations, and endeavored to cover my hanfl
with kisses.

The reason for tliis attack has not been absolntelj^
ascertained, but it was eaid that, having frustrated
Arabi's purpose to complete the burning of Alexandria,
it was determined to seize and take me prisoner to
Kafr-el-Dawar.

The United States acting consul-general has been

r

■ Unite

r aGre

L

TOE OCCUPATION. 19l^

nomber of years the vice-conBul-general of tbe J
United States in Egypt, He ia, it is strange to relate,
a Greek riah {Turkisb subject). I received the fol-
lowing communication from him, and cite it not only
for the information it contains, but for its originality.
It read thus :

Pout Said, Augoit 24, 1SS2.

Mtdeak Colonel Long: I have received yottr^
letter, and am very glad for your good health.
Henaace arrived here this morning by Briudisi boat,
and left for Alexandria by the Egyptian steamer. I
have seen him for a few momenta, because it was very
hot to-day here, and I could not go out.

The Egyptian officers now are here, because from
Ismailia commenced the regular attack, and every day
we have movements of troops, and yesterday arrived
here Zorab Bey, Dolier Bey, and some other officers of
the Royal Guard assigned by H. H. the Khedive,
to follow and accompany the General Wolseley, and -J
they were very satisfy. I

When I saw you give your resignation I waB think-
ing that you should ask to accompany the troops from

Ismailia advancing to Cairo. Mr. M told me that

you had written to him that you want to go away,
and I thought immediately that you like to go with
the English campaign from tbe part of the Khedive
as an officer of his staff, and have a new reputation of
excursion and make your reports ; for this reason I J
thought you were in a hurry to resign the consularl
function bccau^ie of this English expedition in
which at the end will have good ancceas, and eveiy^
officer, besides the good name he will have, he will aJsa 1

198 THE THREE PROPHETS.

receive grades and decorations from the British Gov-
ernment. If the military movements will continue as
quick as was this week, I trust and believe that booq
from here we shall go to Cairo, if it will not be burned.

All's eon, Hassan, told me as soon as they arrived
in Cairo he went up to a village to meet their family,
and he never came back, and he send not news ; p»^
haps he remained in the village.

I told Hassan when he went back to try and know
tiomcthing about him ; but now, unfortunately, since
the occnpation of Port Said, the communication with
Cairo and interior is intercepted entirely, and we can
not receive any more news except when the English
will take Tel-el-Kehir then they will walk directly
for Cairo, Very sincerely,

COMABOS.

On the 17tli of August I resigned the provision^
post which I had accepted in the emergency. TB|
con Bill -general appointed in April had not yet coin
out to talie hia office,* and the consnlar agent i
Alexandria was still in Europe. The office of the
latter is unsalaried, and the time, labor, and ex-^
pense necessarily fell upon me. I wrote to ]
nasce, insisting that he should return, and on ]
arrival, the 26th, I turned over to him the aj-ehivea^

* CoDgresi baa receatl; aboUahed the ofllce of Cnited Statw
Conaul-Oeneral to Egypt. The &Ut« Dtparlment, thereupon, ■
pointed Ur. ComuioB u United States Consul at C^ro.

It t^^H

the
d ei^l

hivea^^^^

United Statw l

thereupon, ^^^^^H

L

THE OOOUPATIOF. 199

In my letter of resignation I have taken oGca-
eion to inform the State Department of the gal-
lant condnct of the American officers and men. I
have said Lord Chai-les Eeresford, chief of police, J
and Lieut en ant- Commander Bradford, his deputy,
had both personally expressed to me their aense of
appreciation of the general aid given them by the
Americans, and had further declared that but for ^
such aid the Palace of Justice, the Credit LyoDaais, i
the Bourse, and in fact all that remains of the
Place des Consuls and vicinity, including the Ameri-
can consulate, would have been inevitably destroyed.

Admiral Nicholson, without my knowledge, with
great courtesy, addressed to the department the
following letter. It has therefore a special valuo
from this fact :

U. 3. FLA<i-SaiF LiMOAaTiR, Second Rite, Alexaihihia, Eotfi, )
Mf IS, 1SS3. }
Uo'^. Wii.i.1111 E. CiUKSLEE, Sevretar^ of tht Kavy, Nav\/ Depart,
meat, Wiukinglon, D. C.

SiB : May I recommend to the notice of the State
Department, throngh yourself, the high appreciation
that I have for tfae acting vice-consul at this place.
Colonel Chaille Long. He was indefatigable in aid-
ing the poor refugees before the bombardment, and
since then has endeavored id every way to be of use
to the interests of the United States.

THE THREE PROPUETS.

He did not deeert tlie consulate at an early dat^
bnt remained on duty until ordered to bring the a
chives on board of thia veaaeU

llie United Statea consulate under his charge ^
also the first one reopened on shore ; in fact, his a
vices have been in the past, and will, I think, in tiN
future, be of such a nature as to merit the coneidei
tion of the departmeut.

Very reBpectfully,

J. W. A. Nicholson,

Jiear-Admiral commanding United States naval
forc« on MiT-opean station.

Later I received the following letter from 1
Department of State, dated —

WisniNfiTON, ap/miiW fl, 1882. , ]
Sir: 1 have to acknowledge the receipt of yoM
communication of the 17lh ultimo, ti'ndering yonr res-
ignation of the ojhce as acting United States consular
agent at Alexandria, to which you were recently ap-
pointed, and giving an interesting account of the post
and present oondition of affairs in Egypt.

In accepting your resignation, it gives me pleasure
to say that the department has a high appreciation c "
your valuable and humane services rendered in t'
interest of humanity during the recent active open
tions at Alexandria, and for which I desire to cxprea
to you its approval and thanks.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed) W. Hunter,

Acting Secretary. '

THE OCOUPATIOS. 20l|

Tlie author has made no attempt to follow inl
detail a campaign which has had no reaUy eerionsl
claim to be so congidered. It wag purely a military 1
promenade for the EngUehmen, and as such serred I
as a manceuvre, somewhat costly, it ia true, of all'|
arms, both naval and military.

Arabl was the commander-in-chief of the Eg;
tian army, and was also considered by his fellah-J
adherents in the light of a prophet.

He proved a very bad soldier and a very poor
prophet, and his former counselors of the Univer-
sity of El-Azhar speak with much bitterness of the
vanity of the man whom they attempted to in-j
Rpire.

"With a force estimated at 50,000 men of all
arms, including a large number of monnted Bed-
ouins capable of excellent service, he made no
serious attempt to annoy or drive back to theirs
ships the few hundred men who, stretched a1on|j
the Mahmondieh canal to Eamleh, held Alexandria
in the first days of the occupation. Arabl had read
certainly ia Arabic the tale of the counsel which
Omar gave to his son, when the latter was about to
set out upon a voyage. " Eemember," said Omar,
" there are three things which never return to one in
this life — a sped arrow, a spoken word, and a lost

1 canal,

[ One ■

I under

203 THE TBREE PROPnETS.

opportunitj." Three weeks of inertia was the lost
opportunitj which the unheeded counsel of Omar
had warned Arabi would never come back to him.

Sir Garnet Wobelej, the commander-in-chief of
the expeditionarj army, arrived in Egypt on the
15th of August.

On the 19tb, ander pretense of an attack against
Aboukir, widely circulated, the better to deceive tho-
enemy, Sir Garnet, acting with Admiral Seyoioiir,^
occupied the Suez Canal. M. de Lesseps protested in
vain its ncutrahty ; Lis opposition to the landing of
French troops at Port Said, under Admiral Conrad,
unfortunately for French interesta, had been sus-
tained by the French ministry. Had the French,
even at that day, asserted their authority, they would
have retrieved the error of nou-action on the 11th
of July, and the dual control wotild have been re-
established under exceptional circumatanoea for
France, and England alone would still boar the
odium which attaches to her for the burning of
Alexandria. It waa a lost opportunity. M. de Lee-
seps, it is said, hoodwinked Arabi into the belief
that England would respect the neutrality of the
canal, and the canal for this reason was left intact.
One can scarcely conceive of such simplicity, nor
understand why Suez should have been left nndaifl

L

TUE OCCUPATION.

fended, when it was expected that the dreaded i
Indian coDtiDgent would land there. With Suez i
uncovered and the canal abandoned, the enemy t
could lay siege to Cairo as well a3 Tel-el-Kebir,

It is well, however, for Egypt that Arabi staked
hia fortunes at Te!-el-Kebir. Had he fallen back
upon the apex of the Delta, he would have de-
stroyed the grand old city of Cairo — an irrepamhle i
loss — and made good hia retreat to Upper Egypt, 1
where he might have prolonged the struggle and
lent such dignity and prestige to his cause as to
have won a title to the scepter of Egypt and to the
mantle of the Prophet now worn by the Mahdi.
But the Mameluke blood of Mourad and Yusef Bey
did not flow in the sluggish veins of the fellah, i
and he thought only of flight and his personal 1
safety.

At eunrise, on the morning of the 13th of 8e|>-
tember, Sir Garnet, with 11,000 bayonets, 2,000
sabres, and sixty field-guns, attacked Arab! in hia
works, which extended a distance of three miles I
and a. half almost due north from a point on the I
canal one mile and a half east of the railway-eto- I
tion of Tel-el-Kebir.

The rebel forces consisted of 88,000 men, incind- i
■ng 6,000 Bedouin irregulars, and fifty-nine siege-^

201

TEE THREE PEOPIIETS.

piecee, and the position occupied by them was i
ceptionally atrong.

The iudolence and neglect of the Oriental have
been ingrafted in his nature by the climate; his
fatalism, however, ie a gift of bis faith, for every-
thing, even in the military service, ia committed to
Al Allah (to God), and the omnipotent hohra (to-
morrow) is the positive ein of the Egyptian,
it to be wondered at, then, that ho was found 1
the English on the morning of the attack Eonnd^
sleeping in the trenches J General Woleeley writes

In moving over the desert at night there are no^
landmarks to guard one's movements ; we had, conBe-
qnently, to direct onr coarse by the stars. This was
well and correctly effected, and the leading brigades
of each division both reached the encmjr's works within
a couple of minutes of one another. The enemy was
completely surprised, and it was not until one or two
: their advanced sentries fired their rifles that they
realized our close proiimity to their works. These
were, however, very quickly lined with infantry whi
opened a deafening musketry-fire, and their guns cam
into action immediately.

Lientenant-Commander Goodrich says :

The black regiments, composed of negroes front
the Sondan, were specially Doticeable for their pluck,
fighting bravely hand to band with the British ; more

TFIE OCCUPATION.

intelligence and leaa downright cowardice in the upper
grades might have converted these men iato a formi-
dable army.

Arabi and Lis second in command ran away at
the first alarm, and, riding their steeds in hot haste
to Bnlbeis, there took the train, which it is said 1
awaited liim, and thus entered Cairo, where he pro- I
posed to his friends to btim the city. Bnt the I
proposition met with little favor, for Cairo is esaen-
tially an Arab city, and the greater part of the
property is owned by wealthy natives. Alexandria
was the reverse of this, being almost entirely Eu-
ropean.

Sir Garnet, in his report, Bays:

The result of the battle of Tel-el-Kebir has been 1
the entire collapse of the rebellion. The only place |
that has not as yet surrendered is Damietta, and its cap-
ture or surrender can bo easily effected at our Iciaiiro.

The men of the rebel army having laid down or
thrown away their arms in their flight, have now dis-
persed to their homes, and the country is so rapidly
returning to its ordinary condition of peace, that I am
able to report the war to be at an end, and that the
object for which this portion of Her Majesty's army J
was sent to Egypt has been fully accompUshod.

The loss of the Egyptians was about 2,500, the!
greater part of whom fell while fleeing under thai

r

THE THREE PROPHETS.

Babres of tlie British cavaliy. The loss of the En^l
lish army was only fiftj-eevcn killed, incladia|p

A handful of cavalry of the Indian contingent,^
tmder Major-Gteneral Dmry Lowe, entered Cairo o
the afternoon of the 14th. The garrison at Abbasieh,
7,000 strong, threw down their arms and surren-
dered on the approach of the English, while at the
same time the nionnted infantry was eent against the
3,000 men who held the citadel. Warned of their
approach, the garrison marched oat and dispersed,
and when the infantry arrived they fonnd no other
occnpants hat the political prisoners and suspected
persona who had been incarcerated by order of the
rebel chief. Cairo, the El-Kahirah (victorious), had
submitted without a blow ; it was no longer the city
of the caliphs, and of the valiant Tnsef Saladin,
whose shadow was etill reflected ia the citadel^
which ho had built, and from El-AiJiar, where 1
spirit was supposed to rest : it was the city of t
felluh.

Sir Garnet, on quitting England, it has I
said, laid a wager that he would be in Cairo on thd
Iflth of September, and back in London to accept!
a, dinner some time in October. He entered Caird
by rail on the 15th, and returned to England id*

L

TUE OCCUPATION. 207 i

time to claim the wager made. Critics of the Eng'
]iBh expedition to Egypt have Been in this incident
a corroboration of the charge that it was English
sovereigns — cavalry of St. George — which had cap-
tured the timid Arabi, rather than the nadoubted
valor of the English soldier and the acknowledged
skill of Sir Garnet.

The epilogne of this odious houffonerie was no
leas strange than the acts which had preceded it,
Arabi, Mahmoud Sami, Tonlba, Fehmi, and Na-
dar, after a stipulated plea of guilty, were con-
demned to death, but, as agreed upon at the same
moment, the sentence was commuted to exile at
Ceylon.

The inquest and trial of the rebel chiefs estab-
lished their absolute cnlpability. England, how-
ever, for political reasons, desired to succeed Arabi
as the chief of the national party, and Iiis letter
to tlie Egyptians committing them to the tender
care of his friends, the English, is a rare exhibi-
tion of hypocrisy and servility. It was a fitting
epitome, however, to the movement which had
never been other than burlesque.

On the 1st of September I accepted the kind
invitation of Commandant Whitehead, of the Quia-
nebang, and of Lieutenant -Commander Sarbom^t

r

S('8

THE TUEEE PEOPBETS.

who represented the ward-room mese, to return
with them to Nice. The voyage to Europe '
exceptionally pleneant, and the friendshipG whid
wcyre made amid the horrore of a besieged cit|
were strengthened by the genial associations whid
marked my stay on ehipboard.

THE IXTEREEGSm.

In the month of April of the last year, bust
neas of importance required my return to Egypt.
Alexandria was Etill a mass of rains, from which
ionumcrable wooden shanlies Iiad arisen for the
transaction of bnsiuess. England had done ootb-
ing toward causing the indemnities to bo paid,
and the inhabitants were suffering very great
hardships, and were scarcely able to subsist,
much less commence the work of reconstruc-
tion of their homes. Tlie Egyptian Government ■
after mocb delay, on the I3th of January, 1888, f
six months after the disaster, issued the followinj
decree :

I We,

I ^

I the V

THE LNTEEKEGNIJM.

We, KHEDrVK op Egypt :

Whereas, we have decided to grant iodcmnitiea to ]
the victims of the insurrection which has taken place ]
in Egypt since the 10th of June, 1883, in accord-
ance with our decree, dated the 4th of November,
1883, on the advice of our Council of Ministers and ia ]
agreement with the powers interested.

DEOBEB,

Article 1. An international commission is con-
stitQted, with exclusive jurisdiction to receive and ex-
amine the claims of the victims of the insurrection
which has occurred in Egypt since the 10th of Jiii
1882, and to decide, without appeal, on each one
these claims, either by rejecting them, or confirming i
them by fixing an indemnity.

Abt. 2. Indirect losses, loss of specie, of jewelry, \
plate, works of art or antiquities, bonds or Becuritiesl
of all kinds, rents or crops, shall give no claim to in-T
demnity.

Nevertheless, the loss of jewelry, plate, works of '
art, antiquities in shops for sale or on pledge with
third parties, may give a right to indemnity, provided
that the existence of the lost articles can be established
by the trade-books or written documents having a
positive date. Other means of proof will only he ad-
mitted in exceptional cases, and when the commissioa
shall judge it absolutely necessary.

The proprietors of crops stored or ready foi
thrashing, directly appropriated or destroyed by th^
rebels, should be indemnified.

The indemnities for buildings shall be calculated!

I

210 THE THREE PROPHETS.

on the ralnc vfaicb the edifices bad before tbeir
straction.

Abt. 3. The commiEsion ghall be composed as
lows :

Two members nominated by the Egyptian Gi
ernment, the president and vice-president.

One member nominated by each of the Governments
of Germany, Auatria-IIungary, France, and Great Brit-
ain, Italy, Russia, the United States, and Greece.

One member nominated by agreement between
the Governments of Helgiam, Denmark, Spain, the
Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden and Norway.

If this last member is not nominated at the til
of the meeting of the commission, of which the
Bhall be tixed by a future decree, to be issned ei
on the suggestion of our Council of Ministers, it shall
be proceeded with notwithstanding ; but in this case
a special delegate of the unrepresented nations shall
take part in the deliberations and decisions of the
commission, when the interests of one of the subjecta
of that power shall be under discussion. If the dele-
gate is himself a claimant, the commission shall Bum-
moQ to take part in the deliberations one of the dele-
gates of the unrepresented powers.

Art. 4. The comraiaaion ahall decide in every case
by an absolute majority of votes, and, if the votes be
equal, the preaident shall have the casting vote.

It shall be legally competent to make all dectsioi
even in the absence of one or several delegates.

Nevertheless, when a claim for indemnity shi
come before the commission In the absence of
delegate of the nation to which the claimant belong!^;

(veen
the j

.sioiu^^^H

t Nevertheless, when a claim for indemnity shidl^^^H

come before the commission In the absence of tli4^^^|
delegate of the nation to which the claimant belongi^^^^H

t J

TUE INTERREGNUM.

211

the delegate sball be apprised ; but bis absence shall
not delay the hearing of the case more than forty-
eight hours.

Art. 5. The commission shall, on application, open
an account with our Council of Ministers for the funds
necessary to carry on its work.

The commission shall hare full powers to proceed
to the investigation of claims presented to it, and it
shall he able to associate with itself in its labors per-
sons whoso asslBtance may appear useful.

Aet. 6. The time and ways and moans of paying
the indemnities awarded by the commission shall be
decided hereafter.

Aet. 7. Our ministers are charged, each in so far
as it concerns him, with the execution of the present
decree.

Given in our palace at IsmaiUa, the 4 Rabi-el-
Ewel, 1300.

(Signed), Mehemet Tkwfik.

The President of the Council of Ministers,

ClIEKIF.

A very liberal interpretation has been given to
Article fi, as to the time, ways, and means of pay-
ment of those indemnities ; for, so late as Augost
11, 1884 — as appears by recent dispatches — a depu-
tation of indignant claimants, to the number of
five bnndred, went to the British consulate to pro-
test against their Don-payment.

It is difficult to nnderetand why any member of

fil3

THE THREE PROPHETH.

iho commiaeiou should Lavo been decorated. The
Khedive desired, however, to confer a mark of epe-
Bial favor upon certain members of the comniieeioa.
t coald not be done, in view of their insi^ificant
iervice, without marked dieconrtesy to the othere.
Uo, therefore, with a na'iveU trolj Oriental, decorat-
ed them aU!

Under the head of indirect damages, paintings,
irorks of ai't, bonds, and sccarities, bad been elimi-
nated as rightful claima. This onjuat discriminar
tion worked great hardsliip, and to none more than
to my dietingnished friend Judge Barringer, of tJie
Court of Appeals, whose house I endeavored to
save on the Utli, with a epecial knAwIcOge of its

_Ya!uabIe contents.

A journal published in Alexandria, " Le Fliaro
I'Alexandric," in a series of articles from the
of an anonymous writer, bad published during
absence a series of articles entitled " lUstoire C(
temporaine."

The services rendered the people and city

P Alexandria by the American officers, sailors,

marines, bad been forgotten, or attributed to others.

I sent a communication to the " Egyptian Gazette,"

which the unfriendly oiuission was noted, and

ibe facts as herein appear aflirmed, and adding tbo

liaro

I

THE ISTEREEGNUM.

following letters, received about that time, as irrefii-
table evidence of my statement :

HOTAL Natai. Cdlleqe, Oreesiticb, April 24, 1SS3.
Mr DEAR Colonel Ciiaill£] Losg : You must j
please excuse the delay in replying to your letter of I
the 11th iDst.j but it has only reached me now. If |
my memory is correct, I reached the Tribunal on tho
morning of the 15th of July, and found that you,
with a detachment of American seamen and marines,
were already in possession of the couaulate. While I
reraaiocd there I received the greatest assistance in
restoring order and extinguishing the fire, both from
yourself and the officers and men of the Lancaster.
The statement, published in the " Phare d'Alesandrie,"
that the Americao detachment returned on board, is |
entirely incorrect, and I am sure the thanks of the
European population are due to you for the zeal and 1
energy you displayed in replacing them in pOBsession |
of their homes. You were always at your post ready
to assist everybody, without regard to nationality, and
I may say that no man worked harder during that
eventful week. I now thank you and your officers
and men for their assistance, aud also for the kindness J
we received at your hands. With the best wIgIiqb for I
yoiu- welfare, believe me, yours sincerely,
Bakton R. BKAnronn,

Commander, R. K,

From Sir Edward Malet, H. B. Majesty's minis^ I
ter plenipotentiary, I reeeiYed the following :

[

214

THE THREE PROPUErS.

Cjjao, Uty ¥!, 188S.
Deab Colo!cel Lo^'q : It vill give me tnadi
pleaaure to forward a copy of the iDclosure contained
in yonr letter of the S4th to Lord GranviUe by the
next Englisb m^l. I hope, also, that you will allow
me to take this opportunity of expressing the btgfa
BGn»e which I entertain of the serrices yon rendered
immediately after the bombardment of AlexaDdria.
Believe me to be, dear Colonel Long,

Tounj very faithfully,

Edwaed Mai.kt.

Sbortlj after, and wholly unexpected bj me, ]
received the following note, dated

U^iEON DC Khesiti, BiB-EL-TiH, SS Jain, iaS3.
Cbeb Bet : Par ordre de S. A, le Khedive, je
viens V0U8 prier de vouloir bien venir cet aprds-midi
an Palais de Bas-el-Tin,

Votre devout,

Tojnso Bbt,

Maltre des eirkmonU
CHATLLfe-LoNG Bet.

His HigLnesB Tewfik Pasha said to me, " Colo-

I nel, I confer upon yon the cross of Commander

h of the Osmanieh, aa a token of the esteem in which

H I hold, 08 does His Majesty the Sultan, the veiyia

I great services you have rendered to Egypt, and palW|

W ticnlarly those immediately before and after the.!

I l)ombanlment."

^ '■"■

THE ISTEBREGNDM.

About tliia time Lord DufEerin, claiming thi
Egypt was unable to bear tho expense of the Sou-
dan, advised the evacuation of that country, and the
recognition of the authority of the Maabdi.

lie drew the political and physical boundary of
Egypt as far north as Assouan, and it is significant
to note that the British press, with singular una-
nimity, re-echoed the proposition of Lord DufEerin,
adding that " it was no business of England to
fight the battles of Egypt except in Egypt propei
At that moment Cherif Pasha, the President of the
Council of Ministers, was being importuned to grant,
a concession to an English company to construct
railroad from Suakin to Berber — Berber beii
within the territory which Lord Dufferin had pi
posed should be conceded to the Maabdi.

I called upon Cherif one morning, and fotinjj
him at hia ministry, surrounded by the Engl
applicants for the concession. Ho saluted rae with'
that cordial familiarity which distinguishes him.
"Colonel," he said, "will you not give these gen-
tlemen your views as to the practicability of build-
ing the road from Suakin t " I replied : " Cer-
tainly. In my judgment, every interest of Egypt,
economioal and political, forbids its construction.
The road, two hundred and eighty-eight miles in

1

the

ant. ^^_

216 THE THREE PROPHETS.

length, runs throagh a eandjr and rockjr desert, viUlfl
insafficient water, mid the land is abeolntel? irre- '
claiaiahle. An anny of five thousand men would
be reqnired to protect it against the Arahra, Bish-
arcen, and otlier tribes whose animosity would be
invited, to Bay nothing of the incui-sions of the
natural enemies of Egypt along the frontier. In
the volley of the Nile the unfiniEhed road projected
by Fowler presents none of these obstacles; its
completion is an absolute necessity for the develop-
ment of Upper Egypt and Nubia — Uie irrigation
and reclamation of the land along the Nile. Direct
eoimnanieation with the Sondan, secure from inter-
ruption by an enemy beyond the borders of Ifeypt,
is thus obtained. Kbartoum, three or four days
distant by rail, will be then, in fact, an Egyptian
^ city, and a great emporium of trade. Permit the

I road to be built from tbe Hed Sea, and the tmde

H of the Soudan will be diverted from Egypt, aud

H Siiakin will become an English port."

I There was little fear that Cherif, who had the

■ interests of his country sincerely at heart, would

r grant the prayer of those who urged the Suakin

I route. But Nubar is in Egypt again, and Nubar is

H quite aa much of an Englishman as an Egyptian.

H More than tltis, he is an Armenian, and ambitioa% ,1

THE INTEHEEGSUM.

and therefore England will doubtless buJid the road
from Saalcia to Berber, anlesa coming events flhall —
cnrtail her asaumptian of power in Egypt.

One other act remained to conclude the di-amff
of the year before. Suleiman Daoud Bey had been
arrested in one of the ialands of the Mediterranean
to which he had escaped. We have seen him, witt^
Moussa-el-Akhad, leave Cairo on tlie mission of mai
eacre, the morning of the 11th of Jane. On th)
12th of Jnly, under cover of the white flag hoistedl
by Toulba on the fort, he sat on his chair opposite J
the Trench consulate, and, leisurely smoking a ciga- 1
rette, gave the order to bum and pillage the cityJ

Suleiman was in pnEon, and, learning of m^
presenee in Alexandria, he sent me an urgent re-
quest to visit him ; he wished me to defend him he-
fore the court-martial where he was soon to appear.
I had no intention of doing so, but, yielding to thfm
request of M. Hoyami, who wae acting as my sec
tary, and who had known Suleiman for many yeara
I went to his prison, and found him anxiously awaiti
ing me.

Ho said ; " Te Bey, you were an ofiBcer in the
Egyptian army. I wish you to defend me. My de-
fense ia, that whatever I did was done by Arabi's
orders. Arabi hue been acquitted, and exiled. I

r

218

THE THHEE PBOPUETS.

ahall be alBO, for the governor has sent toe word that
I am deetined to go to Massowah. I will give two
thousand franca to my connselor to eecnre for n
an amelioration of this prospective sentence, i
do not wish to leave Egypt."

" Daond," I replied, " I can not onderfake jm
case ; but undeceive yourself. You require very e
porienced counsel, and the sum you name is 1
trifling to merit attention. A friend of mine,
distinguiehed criminal lawyer in Paris, will defom
you i£ you authorize me to send for him,"

" now much will it cost me 3 " said he.

" Twenty-five thousand francs," I answered.

He laughed at this and said ; " I will give thrt
thousand francs and no more. I am certain of I
ing exiled."

" Yery good," I said, in tmTiing to leave him
"if yon engage counsel, let me advise you not t
plead Arabi'a order. Remember, Daoud, you t
not stand in Arabi's shoes : he ia in Ceylon, and,*
before he went, sold out his boasted birthright to
England in order to save bis neck. The Govera-
ment of Egypt m.iy be allowed, perhaps, to make.,
an example of yon, having failed to do so with yoof 4
chief, who was undoubtedly the real criminaL" J
Daoud was visibly affected by my frank diagnosis J

I of Ills

r anythii

THE INTEREEaNUM.

L

of Ills sitnatioD, and aeked me excitedly if I knew
lything positively as to the inteQtions of the Gov-
ernment with reference to him. " No," I said, " I
do not, but these are my eonvictioas." He thanked
me, as M. Hoyami tamed to leave, and, reassured,
said : " I am sure the governor waa right ; I shall
only be exiled,"

A few days later, in a large room of the gov-
emor's palace, amid a dense crowd, Hoyami and I
flat near Daoud, who was arraigned for trial. Hia
counsel, in a preliminary examination, bad taken ex-
ception to the ruling of the court, as to the admis-
sion of certain -witnesses, and at the last moment |
withdrew from the case.

The public prosecutor was a yonng Tnrk, who
was bitter in his denunciation of the atrocious crime
which the defense had avowed as having been com-
mitted by Arabi'a order. The court retired to da> J
liberate, and was absent scarcely twenty miunte&J
They retomed ; amid the most profound silence the-a
president announced their unanimous verdict to I
death. Kaonf Pasha, whom I Lad last seen at Gon^ j
dokoro, was the president of the court ; lie motioned
the guards to seize the doomed man and bear him
away, while the young Turkish advocate fell for^ ■
ward on his face in a paroxysm of tears.

220 TUE TUREK PROPHETS.

A few dajs later, in tbe gmy of the morQin^,
and wliilc the city was wrapped in sleep, I was awal
ened hj an nnusnal nolee, and looking ont from thi
window of my room, sttoatcd bat a few paces awa^
I observed a troop of English soldiers and another
of Egyptians facing each other around a Bt-aflold
whieli had been hastily erected. A man apparently
nnconscious waa held upright, whilo a i
adjusted around hie neck. The caieeon upon whiol
he was tlien placed was driven from nnder him^and
left him swinging in midair.

This was Suleiman Daoud, who tlins expiated
the crime of the llth of Jane. The real crimioalB,
having been sent to Ceylon, were at tliat moment
the mnch-esteemed wards of England and Mr. WiV«
frid Blunt.

In the mouth of December, with a view to ntijf
i;^e the special knowledge possessed of the conQtri«|
of the Soudan and the Abyssinian frontier, I sabi
mitted to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in France
a note, which created no little interest at the time.
Recent events in Abyssinia have given it renewed
importance in its possible bearing upon the 1
tian qnestion. It ran as follows :

King John of Abyssinia, in 1870, at Kays-Klior J
with an army of one huDiJtred thonsand men, defeated^

TUE INTEEEEGNCM.

221 ,

the Egyptian army, taking a large quantity of arraa,
cannona, and munitions of war. Egypt retired from j
tlie country, on the payment of a large sum of money.

King John, it is stated, haa the intention of in-
vading Egypt. The French Government can in any
case profit hy the present sitnatioa in the Soudan and
make herself the arbiter in the Egyptian question, and
thua place herself in statu quo ante bellum in Egypt.

To this end a mission should be sent to King John
ofBcially recommended, with the nominal purpose of
encouraging and developing commerce between Abys-
sinia and France. The mUsion should be composed
of a certain number of officers {hora rang), who should
be under the orders of the chief of the miaaion charged
with the immediate mobilization of the Abyssinian
army, which poaaesses extraordinary qualities of cour-
age and endnrance. It lacks discipline and organiza-
tion. In a very short time, under the instruction of
such officers, it could be made so serviceable as to be
marched to the frontier o£ Egypt, and there dictate
its own terras to Egypt, to England, and if need be ,
to the Maahdi.

King John is ambitions of having Abyssinia recog* 1
nized as a Christian state. Himself a Christian, ha f
would bo proud to treat with France, as both tradi- 1
tion and actual experience tend to prove.

There is no fear that the fellah in Egypt will make 1
any resistance. He has neither the courage nor the
patriotism necessary, the want of which will become
most conspicuous in any conflict against the redoubt-
able Abyssinian warrior, who, since Kaya-Khor, has j
become the terror of the Egyptians.

-K

r

TflE THREE PROPHETS.

)

Tfae Maabdi, vbo is in fact more a merehuit
ivory and slavex tbsn prophet, can play, perhapn,
important r6h in the ncgotiatimis, Bince he has
ready made ovc>narc« to King Jobn, witb the object
of making an alltaoce with him. The king's letter in
reply is aa follow-e :

" The letter of Johannes, the elect of God, King of
Sion, King of the kings of Ethiopia and the conntiy
around, may it come to him who is Prophet with th«
Torks:

" Thanks to the God of Saints, by the intercession
of oar lady, me and my army, we are well, Blesae^g
be always the goodness of the Very High. And Uioi
how art thou ?

"Thon hast written me : ' I am a great prophet,
do not wish to dispute with thee. LfCt there be peace
between ns,'

" I do not know if the will of God is that we may
go to war, me and thee, bat what does that signify? is
it not in our hearts ? I am a Christian and thou art X
Mussulman. There, where I am, thou canst not be
there, where thon art, I can not live in peace I Writ^
ten in the camp of Micael Dion, the lOlh Sivan
the year of grace 1875 (August, 1883)."

The Maahdi hesitates certainly to-day to descend
the Nile, because be fears to leave upon bis flanks a
force so powerful as Abyssinia.

That King John may be brought to act in ac-
cord with the Maahdi, or with the government at
Cairo against him, will bo determined by succeeding
events.

The principal point will be to have an experienced

Btg^^H
s »]^^

THE INTERREGNUM.

agent near the king who will caase him to act accord- ]
ing to the msbes of France.

No time should be lost if the Govemment woiJd
profit by an esccptional sitaation. It ia therefore ur-
geut to act at once.

This note, dated Paris, the llth of Deeemberyl
18S3, and submitted in propria persona to the min- 1
istry, strange to say, appeared shortly after in the
"Morning News," an entei-prieing Anglo-American
jonmal in Paris !

n. E. Majesty's Government ordered Admiral!
Ilewett at once to proceed to Abyaainia, and, if re^
cent diEpatcliea be confirmed, he has made a treaty
with King John, which seenrea to England the po-
Htieal and commercial benefits which the note
y abore cited proposed to M. Ferry in the interests
of France.

In January of this year, when news of the disas-
ter to Hicks Pasha had created great alarm in Cairo,
I telegraphed to the Khedive from Paris, ofEering
him ray services in the campaign, which I supposed
■would be undertaken to suppress the revolt.

Tewfik Paeha addressed me in reply, through my
friend Doctor Abbate Pasha, a very courteous note
of thanks, in which he took occasion to Bay that " tbog
movement was a religious one, and that all Euj

[

224

TIIE TUBEE PBOPilETS.

peans Bhould be eliminated from the element to I
sent to combat it."

A few dav8 later, on the 13th da; of Jurmur]
Gordon Pasha, who was about to etiirt for the OoDgi
in the service of King Leopold of Belgium, Preai
dent of the Intcniatioaal African Aseociation,
Buddenly ordered to the Soudan.

He waa, in the words of the letter of inetmo-
tiona given liim by Lord Granville, " to consideB J
and report upon the best mode of effecting I
evacuation of the interior of the Soadao, and 1
counteract the stiiuulua which, it is feared, niajl
possibly be given to the slave-trade by tlie insoi
rectionary movement,"

Gordon's apparent disobedience of orders i
not been disapproved by the ministry, notwithatand-
ing the declaration of Lord Churchill in the House
of Commons that his conduct deserved tlie aeYerest
censure of that House. The danoil,ement wiU, per*
haps, show that it has been a part of the methods
of England to which reference has already been J
made. Mr. Gladstone has been threatened wi^. j
censure for having " abandoned Gordon to his fate," ]
for his " vacillation " and " wiint of a policy," but h» 1
seems to have explained this satiufactorily ; at least^
l^thore ia no longer a question of the vote of censure

THE ISTEREEGNUM.

and tliQ dogs have been called ofE. The sliipmei
of railway material to Suakin iends additional Big^M
nificance to these methods, which, in the end, may
show that Mr. Gladstone has had a policy not 80
wide or deep as Lord Eeaconsfleld'a would haral
been, perhaps, but a policy which will do.

In Gordon's madness, then, there will be foun J
a great deal of method, donbtless inspired in 1
nnwritten and Bupplcmental orders; the attad
against the ministry having been adroitly made the
better to conceal the purpose of the Government.

Shut up in Khartoum, a color of lieroisra has
been given to Gordon's desperate condition. It im
a fact, however, that, since the 15th of Jane, wiffl
a high Nile, he could have withdrawn with his
troops, with the fleet of steamers at his disposition,
southward by the river to Gondokoro, thence to my
old friend M'Tse, King of Uganda, where he might
have turned westward down the Congo to the sea
in the interests of His Majesty King Leopold. But,
whether he remains in Khartoum in his own inter-
ests as the Tali of the Soudan, or in the special in-
terests of Great Britain, the Maahdi has been wise
to refuse his presents, and the proffered Emirat of
Kordofan, The Prophet may with truth warn hia
people of the danger, and, in the words of Laocoon,

r

220

THE THREE PROPHETS.

exclaim : " O wretched conntrymen, what deeperata
iofutoation is thial Do you believe the euemy
gone? or think jon any gifts of tho Greeks can bed
free from deceit ! "

"TIMEO DAiTAOB ET DOSA FERENTEa."

THE FDTTBE OF EGYPT.

The morning after Tel-el-Eebir, tlie tast wa
Great Britain had aeeamed before the world was
virtually aeliieved. Sir Garnet Wolseley, on the
16th of September, 1882, in his report, says:

The country is so rapidly returning to its ordinary H
condition of peace, that I am able to report the vai
to be at an end, and that the object for which this
portion of Her Majesty's army was sent to Egypt haa
been folly accomplished.

Two yeara have elapsed since Sir Garnet re-l
ported the war to have ended, and yet Egypt ia
further away from peace and good government tlian
on the morning after the battle.

Sir Samuel Baker, once tlie Governor-General of. J

-UlU

THE FUTURE OF EGTPT. 227

the Soudan, is an eminent anthority npon queetiona
relating to Egypt and the Sondan. He has lately-
written to the " Times " as follows :

The country is bankrupt ; brigandage, -which waa
formerly unknown, is rampant even in the Delta —
seventy-four cases within one month. The Soudan is
in a blaze of insurrection, and General Gordon in a
moat dangerous position, as, by a letter I received
from him of the Hth of March, he doubts the possi-
bility of defending Khartoum beyond a certain pe-
riod. . . . The excuse for our intervention during the
Arabi revolt was declared " as only directed toward the
restoration of the Khedive's authority." In fact, the
expression was used, " to set bim upou his legs and
then to evacuate the country." We bave so completely
abstracted every vestige of power and authority from
the unfortunate Khedive that he can not even nomi-
nate his own officers in any branch of the military or
civil services. Having divested the legal ruler of the
country of all importance, we add insult to injnry by
utterly disregarding his personal existence in Egypt.
When the lamented Hicks started from Cairo in the
spring of 1883, the Sondan was regarded as a valuable
territory, which only required a railway for its de-
velopment, and this railway from the Nile to the Jied
Sea was advocated by Xiord Dufferin in his most able
and interesting report. But, when Hicks waa de-
feated, all ideas of development were at once para-
lyzed by panic, and the Soudan was denounced as a
worthless incumbrance, and the so-called " authority "

r

I body

I Egyi

228 THE TflREE PROPHETS.

of the Khedive was rudely if not brutally negativec
by diiect orders from Downing Street to abandon
Soudan, Bgaiost the wishes of the niler, supported
his ministry, who resigned en mtuse at the presDmp-'i
tuous iutmsion of the British dictum.

Kotbing can be more thorough than the result
our philanthropic mission to Egypt, where the misrule
of the East was to disappear before the civilizing in-
fluences of Western institutions, and the introduc-
tion of British administration was to transform, with
magic haste, the Bern i -barbarous land of the Khedive
into the semblance of a European state. Great Brit-
ain has aci.^ompliBbed this arduous task, to the aston-
ishment if not to the admiration of the world. Egypt
has changed its features, and, through the guidlnjf
hand of England, it has, within two years, becomt
transformed into an Oriental Ireland. . . .

It is simply appalling to observe the frightful con-
dition of Egyptian society in its political aspect, and
it is a humiliation and disgrace to England, upon
whom the actual responsibility undoubtedly must rest.

ITiis state of Oriental Ireland is the natural re-
sult of a cowardly and unjustifiable policy, which
commenced when the first shot was fired at the forts
of Alexandria, at the same time that instructions
from Downing Street prohibited the landing of a
military force to protect the city. Alexandria was
pillaged and destroyed, and Egypt will be mulcted
in nearly five million sterling for indemnities. Every-
body knew that England was the only power in
Egypt i tlw^t fi^ Khedive could not move his little
finger without her special permission ; and that,

w

THE FUTURE OF EGYPT.

220

England had completely fettered the Egyptian au-
thorities, she alone was responsible for the situation.
It was, therefore, her duty to afford material aid.
This might have been offered without delay by
troopa dispatched from India, or a British force from
Cairo. England would not move. She had declared
that " the Soudan was beyond the sphere of her in-
tervention." Garrisons were starving ; the dogs were
eaten at Sinkat ; a blood-thiraty enemy which gave no
quarter had cut off all supplies, and Tewfik Bey sent
urgent messages for help, or he must fall. General
Valentine Baker was the only man available, but he
had no troops ; his gendarmerie had been divested of
all military character, lie addressed them on parade
and called for volunteers. "Are you men, or cow-
ards?" asked this energetic commander when not a tnaa
responded to the appeal. "We are all cowards," shout-
ed the abject fellaheen; "we don't want to fight."

Sir Samnel adds;

We have been a grievous curse to Egypt, and
we are entirely responsible for the miseries and dis-
asters which have befallen this unhappy country.

To thifl severe indictment may be added I
i-eBponsibility which primarily attaches to England,
for the wrong which the Rivers Wilson -Nnbapl
niiniBtry committed, and which, aa wc have Bhown,T
was the hinge upon which the military insurrection 1
of Arabi turned.

I

230 THE THREE PROPHETS.

And, finally, as Sir Sarauol bae said: "The t
warranted interference by whicb an enonnt
of the Ottoman Empire was wrested from its legiti-
mate ruler and thrown into tbe direst anareby — an
act which awakened Egypt to tbe hypocrisiea
British declarations." *

It is singcdar that, in the face of tbe avowed h^
pocrisies of these British declarations, Sir Saninel
should pronounce for the protectorate of Great
Britain, and yet Sir Samuel has returned to tlx
charge, and again written to the " Times " as 1a^
as the 15th of August of this yenr : *' England r
thank God that the conference has fallen still-born.
Enghshmen, not tbe politicians, must now deter-
mine our future action. England must be miatre
of Egypt ; let France go to tbe deuce. To ev:
ate the Soudan would be an indelible dishonor."

It is extremely doubtful whether the Egyptians
would welcome such a government as depicted by

* The abandoDmant of the Soiidon is rt direet viohtljon of the
rights of the Stiltnn at Turkcj. The firman cf iorestitiire dellTered
to TewGk, the 19th ChubBn, 1296 (lltb of August, 1S79), eootidiia
this pertinent ctauee ;

" The Ebedite shall not, under any pretext or motive, abundoa ^
to othoni, ID whole or ia part, the privileges accorded to Egypt, ai
wliich are eniBnatioas of tbe rights and natural [irerogatiies of in]!' I
imperial gorenmient, nor sball be abaniloQ any part of the tent 1

I Sir Sam

i even to

THE FDTDEE OF EGYPT.

Sir Samuel, tbe bleesings of which are not apparent!
even to the obtuse senses of an abject f^laJieen,\

BeBides this, he hates the Inglisee to-day with a.'l
hatred wliich ia aggravated and rendered cumula-^
tive bj the religions confrerie of El-Azliar, and by
the resident Europeans, menaced in tlieir commer-
cial interests by the manifest animosity of the Eng-
lish regime.

The conference which Sir Samuel " thanks God \
has fallen Btill-bom," was, neverthelesa, convoked
by hia Government, and the need must have been
m-gent, even from his own showing, of the bad
government which England haa given Egypt.

Mach has been said abont the future of Egypt,.!
her people, and the stranger which is within hepi
gates. Kecent events have dissipated the sentiment l
of an " Egypt for the Egyptians." It was a brief 1
dream, from which the liberalist awakened after I
tlie massacres of Alexandria and Tantah, and the,]
disgraceful flight at Tel-el-Kebir, The cry of thai
reformed Egyptian army of Valentine Baker, ""Wal
are all cowards ! " was the expiring wail of a natioaa
which had been prematurely brought to life byl
Arabi, but was neither brave nor patriotic. It Is notl

233 THE THREE PROPHETS.

to tha /dlah, certainlj, tlmt tlio fulnre of Egj
may be confided,

Miifit England, then, be the mistrese of Egypt ?
Mr. OLidatone declared in the House of CommonB,
only a few Diunths past, that the situation in Egypt
" is one of utiiiofit anomaly, inconvenience, and per-
haps politieal danger " ; he eaid that he had not
created that eitnation, bnt be had Inherited it from
" the more adventurous gcniusee who had preceded
him." lie repudiated tbe cry for the annexatif
or a protectorate for Egypt, and said :

T mnst remind the House that the onerous dot]
which we have undertaken in Egypt ia to put down
disorder, and then eBtablish eome be^nnlngs of toler-
able goTerument. That is a duty we have nndertalcen,
not on our own behalf only, but for oivilization. We
undertook it with the approval of the powers of Eu-
rope — the highest and moat authentic organ of mod-
em Christian civilization — we must fulfill it as we re-
ceived it from them. I know the word protectorate
la sometimoa spoken ; perhaps it is not spoken in ita
technical sense, but it is a dangerous word.

On the other hand, a diEtinguiahed member d
the House, in the course of tlie same debnto, said :■

Ton need not pretend to be disinterested ; it is a
a sbam. The first object you had when you wenT
to Egypt was to establish English interests. It irss

]

iflO^H

THE FUTURE OF EGYPT.

for tbe gosi>eI of selfishness that you west, it was for
British interests, and, thank God ! there are some peo-
ple who will stand up for British interests.

Ilaa the gospel of Be1&.l]ness to which the mem-
ber referred been a revelation to Mr. Gladstone?

Be this as it may, Lord Dufferia's plan for the
evacuation of the Soudan, and General Gordon's non-
evacuation of that country, however unintelligible
to the disinterested public, have been tacitly ap-
proved, if not recommended, by the distinguiahed
premier.

The Earl of Northbrook has been sent out to ,
Egypt to make inquiry and advise the home Gov-
ernment concerning the new position which the
Soudan disasters and Egypt's financial troubles have
created. It is singular that the superior intelligence
and experience of Sir Evelyn Baring liave not been
sufficient to make clear at the Foreign 0£Bce the
fact tliat the Soudan disasters and Egypt's financial
troubles have been created by England herself. Sir
Garnet Wolseley has been appointed to the so-called
Gordon relief expedition. It is the last act in the
"evacuation " comedy which 6ei>arates the Soudan
horn Egypt, and constitutes that country a British
V pVovince, over whidi Gordon has already proclaimed
himself the vaii. The army commanded by !

2S4

TlIE THEEE PEOPnETS.

Garnet is doubttoes destined to become 'aa i
of occnpatioD, And, if Gordon ehitll bo foun
Kbartonm when it arrivcn there, it will perban
Btall liiiu as Her Critannio Majestj''8 Vice
the Soadan.

The reeult of the recent Egyptian Conference
lias not been satisfactory to England. She has die-
covered that France, by a policy of laisserj^atre, hae
finally won the Byiiipathies of the powers, whicfa,
menaced in their commercial interests and wearied
with England's arrogance, Lave at length given
Bigne of protestation, ^nd Iiave determined to pn^
end to her ambition and unlimited expansion,
conference at Varzin, If rumor may be credited^fl
declare that England neither ninst nor shall beV
mietress of Egypt.

The powers of Europe, then, " the highest i
most aathentic organ of modern Christian civi
tion," as Mr. Gladstone has eaid, ehould assnmefl
joint control of Egypt, whose position i:
to that of Belgium in 1830, and make of her an
African Belgium, subject to the supreme authority
of the Sultan.

The Caliph of Stamboul, aa the grand Chem
Islam, in tlie seat of tho faitliful, in accord with f
powers, would bo bound by a common interest tO'>'

THE FUTDRE OF EOTFT.

235

iN^llPscliasms of his own Moslem Bubjects and
thoa&^.Eilgland and France.

This 18 tiie fatBre of Egjpt to which a manifest
deetiny would commit her. The diverse interests
sind jealousies of the stranger within her gates
would merge into this cojidominium for the benefit
alilie of the European and the fellah.

The eternal question of tlie East, so long a men-
ace, may yet become a pledge for the peace of Eu-
-■ rope, Caveant consules .'